International Afro-American Museum

Overlooking the old dock in Charleston, where almost half of the slave population first entered North America, the International African American Museum in South Carolina (USA), which recently opened to the public after more than two decades under construction, does not go unnoticed. It is the result of great commitment and collaboration between special houses.
It sits in a building designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and Moody Nolan, with landscaping by Hood Design Studio and exhibition design by Ralph Appelbaum Associates. The studios worked together to create a piece of architecture and an environment that would honour the history of the location, while supporting a range of exhibitions, events and educational resources. The shape reflects the guiding principle articulated by the principal and initial designer, the late Henry N. Cobb, for whom location was paramount.
It is the latest pilgrimage spot for the descendants of enslaved Africans, whose arrival in the Western Hemisphere begins at the docks of the Lowcountry coast. But it is also a lesson in humanity for us all. 
Within its 14,000 square metres it houses exhibits and artefacts that explore how the work, perseverance, resilience and cultures of African-Americans have shaped the Carolinas, the nation and the world at large. It also includes a genealogical research centre to help families trace their ancestors’ paths from the point they arrived there. 

«More than a mark of architecture, it’s an extraordinary milestone »

And it opens doors at a time when the history, essence and racial rights in the United States of America are getting louder and also more challenged.
Thus, the structure and the heart of this museum see the light of day with the mission to show, to question, to raise awareness, to invite dialogue.
«The only thing you need to bring to this museum is your curiosity, and we’ll do the rest,» says Tonya Matthews, the museum’s curator. «Show me a courageous space, show me an open space, show me a space that meets me where I am and then gets me where I asked to go,» she adds. 
Upon entering the venue, eight large screens display a looped trailer of a diaspora journey that spans centuries, from cultural roots on the African continent, to regional and international legacies that have emerged from the dispersion and migration of Africans. With the exception of two service area framing a central staircase with a skylight, the entire ground floor of the building remains open, representing the heart of the local collective memory. On the east side of this open space, facing the harbour and ocean, a shallow water mirror represents the edge of Gadsden’s Wharf as it was in the early 19th century, the peak of the slave trade. 
«The International African American Museum is more than a mark of architecture, it’s an extraordinary milestone,» says Curt Moody, founder of Moody Nolan.