International African American Museum
Project Description
The IAAM is a collaborative effort between Moody Nolan and the design architect, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. This new international museum will be devoted to telling the story of the passage of African peoples from slavery to emancipation and freedom. It is sited on the historical location in Charleston, SC of Gadsden’s Wharf, the point of entry to America for a significant portion of enslaved Africans transported here during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. More than just a museum, the IAAM will be a site of memory and a place to tell the story of and the contributions to American history made by these enslaved Africans and their descendants.
Project Stats
Location
Charleston, SC
Project Gallery
Design Features
Movement through the IAAM will represent the journey from the origins of Africa across the Atlantic Ocean and to and through America, tracing the paths and patterns that enslaved Africans, and ultimately African Americans, made for themselves. Woven into the design are artistic expressions of the cultural aspects of the Gullah/Lowcountry community and their artistry and industry. One unique quality of the siting of this museum, besides its historical location, is that Charleston and South Carolina continue to show evidence of its African heritage through surviving sites, customs and culture of the Gullah and Lowcountry peoples.