After traveling to six continents and more than 30 countries for research, Tampa architect Jerel McCants has a thing or two to say in his new book, “Architecture of Segregation: The Hierarchy of Spaces and Places.”
“This book delves into the global history of segregation with an intriguing twist, presenting it through the lens of an architect,” a description on McCants’s architecture firm’s website says. “It’s interesting to think about how architects carefully design, plan, and build places that either bring people together or drive them apart.”
It explores “how architects have helped shaped and reinforce societal divisions throughout history,” McCants says. “Architecture is a direct manifestation of societal values, linking it to the persistence of segregation and social inequality.”
Originally from Chattanooga, Tenn., McCants earned a bachelor’s in architectural engineering from Tennessee State University in 1996. He first moved to Tampa in 1997 for graduate school at USF, graduating in 2001. He returned to Tampa in 2004 to continue his career in architecture. In 2009, he established Jerel McCants Architecture, Inc., located in Ybor City.
McCants says his book is a “dedication to my mother and father and the stories my father used to tell me and my siblings about how he grew up in lower Alabama when segregation was the law of the land.”
Architecture has fascinated McCants since childhood.
“I always had an interest in architecture from a very early age, around three years old, when I would create patterns on the floor with anything I could grab at that time,” he says.
It was easy to choose the field as his profession.
“I have always had an interest in spatial relationships and form-making and that continued to develop into floor plans and create spaces for people to interact and use for many different purposes,” he says. “It is intriguing to create experiences and shape spaces and places from my imagination and then to reality, the built environment.”
McCants’s wide range of projects in the Tampa Bay area include affordable housing, historic renovation, restaurants and bars, recreational facilities, schools, and a monument at King High School in Tampa honoring Ridgewood Cemetery, the African American cemetery over which the school was built.
His favorite architects are Tadao Ando, Jean Nouvel, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Lebbeus Woods. Of the more than 30 countries and places he visited working on the book, McCants considers Paris, France by far the best in architecture.
Which country surprised him with its beautiful architecture?
“That would be Curaçao, a Dutch Caribbean island,” McCants says. “It has beautiful
Dutch architecture that exhibits vibrant color palettes and a mixture of motifs. This was unusual for such a small country.”
Which building - national and/or international - does he feel was or still is a symbol of absolute segregation?
“I would say that it would be the West Bank Barrier wall in Israel. That is a stark reminder of the most fundamental and apparent construct that was intentionally made to separate people,” he says.
What does he want people to take away from the book?
“It addresses many topics: one is that of how architects were of an esteemed profession that was considered next to royalty,” McCants says. “This is to understand how much architects have influenced civilizations and the development of cultures around the world. It is also a reflection on how physical spaces have been used to entrench societal divides. I am seeking to inspire change, urging architects and society to reshape the built environment in ways that promote unity, understanding, and inclusivity taking lessons learned from the past.”
There is a book launch for “Architecture of Segregation: The Hierarchy of Spaces and Places” at 6 p.m. Saturday, February 1st at Tampa Union Station, 601 N. Nebraska Ave. The event features a conversation between McCants and Florida Humanities Executive Director Nashid Madyun as they delve into the book’s thought-provoking themes. Guests will also be able to meet McCants during a book signing session.
For more information on the book, go to Architecture of Segregation.
For tickets to the event, go to Jerel McCants book launch
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.