RAYSHAD DORSEY
Studio Rayshad Dorsey
SAY IT LOUD - SOUTH CAROLINA Exhibitor
South Carolina Based Designer
Who or what inspires you professionally?
My aunt Josie’s living room, my aunt Sandra’s den, my nanna’s porch, my grandma’s kitchen, Odell’s yard, Mrs. Minnie’s archive—these are the spaces from my childhood that influence my understanding of space and continue to be a source of inspiration.
RAYSHAD DORSEY
Bio:
The Great Designer, Rayshad Dorsey, is a lecturer at Clemson University school of Architecture and an architectural designer based in South Carolina. He holds a Master of Architecture with Distinction from Harvard Graduate School of Design. Rayshad received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture from Clemson University, where he received the Blue Key Leadership and Academic Award, the Ray Huff Award for Excellence, and the Student Award for Best Project for his synthesis project. Rayshad also co-founded CNOMAS.
How did you first learn about architecture and when did you decide that built environment profession was an area of interest for you?
My older cousin who is currently an urban planner introduced me to architecture when I was 4 years old and I have not looked back since.
What do you do?
Full Time Lecturer at Clemson University and Architectural Designer
What excites you in the work you do?
Designing environments that bring people together, environments that cultivate a feeling of community and inclusiveness, fills me with optimism regarding the potential influence architecture can have on society, and particularly in the South.
Who or what inspires you professionally?
My aunt Josie’s living room, my aunt Sandra’s den, my nanna’s porch, my grandma’s kitchen, Odell’s yard, Mrs. Minnie’s archive—these are the spaces from my childhood that influence my understanding of space and continue to be a source of inspiration.
What is your proudest professional accomplishment or achievement?
Graduating from Harvard University Graduate school of Design with Distinction and receiving the Araldo A. Cossutta Annual Prize for Design Excellence.
Featured Project Name:
Home-Coming, Coming Home
Featured Project Location:
Home
Featured Project Completion Date:
12/15/2022
Role in Featured Project:
Thesis
Featured Project Description:
home·com·ing: Homecoming represents the act of being unimaginably free. It represents the rebuilding of the foundation which is not built on racism. Homecoming is the removal of the gateway, the ultimate contestation of myths, the memorialization of memory, the celebration of Blackness, the creation of a new vernacular. The temporary act of homecoming ultimately gets replaced with the permanent act of coming home.
