Sycamore & Oak
Adjaye Associates
Layers of Legacy
PROJECT OVERVIEW
A Hub for Black Business, Legacy, and Community Growth
Sycamore & Oak, designed by Adjaye Associates, is envisioned as a dynamic hub for Black-owned businesses—creating space for entrepreneurship, collaboration, and long-term economic growth. The project reflects a commitment to building environments where culture, commerce, and community intersect, supporting both emerging and established voices.
For Blueprints & Brushstrokes, this vision was translated into an immersive installation titled “Layers of Legacy.” Through storytelling, materiality, and artistic interpretation, the exhibit explored how business ownership and community spaces contribute to generational wealth, cultural identity, and collective resilience.
Where entrepreneurship becomes a foundation for legacy.
THE ARCHITECTURAL PROJECT
Designing Space for Black Enterprise and Community Growth
Sycamore & Oak, designed by Adjaye Associates, is envisioned as a dynamic hub for Black-owned businesses—bringing together retail, community, and cultural space into a unified environment. The project reflects a commitment to economic empowerment through design, creating opportunities for collaboration, visibility, and long-term growth.
The architectural approach emphasizes openness, accessibility, and layered spatial experience, allowing the building to function not only as a commercial hub, but as a cultural anchor. Through materiality, form, and spatial organization, the design reinforces the importance of place-making in supporting community identity.
ARTIST INTERPRETATION
layers of legacyh
Keyonna Jones, Kenneth Graves, and Cary Michael Robinson translated the architectural vision of Sycamore & Oak into a powerful visual narrative exploring lineage, labor, and the power of community. Through layered imagery, text, and material expression, the installation reflects the lived experiences and cultural significance of Black entrepreneurship.
The work builds a dialogue between past and future—honoring the foundations laid by previous generations while imagining new pathways forward. By merging portraiture, storytelling, and spatial composition, the artists transform the project into an immersive experience that celebrates resilience, ownership, and identity
Honoring the past.
Elevating the present.
Inspiring what’s next.
THE COLLABORATION
Where Architecture and Art Intersect
The collaboration between Adjaye Associates and the featured artists transformed Sycamore & Oak from a conceptual design into a lived, visual narrative. Through the layering of architectural intent and artistic interpretation, the installation revealed how space can carry stories of ownership, resilience, and cultural identity.
A shared vision—expressed through different mediums, unified in purpose.
Sycamore & Oak
PROJECT DETAILS
A mixed-use hub for Black-owned businesses and community growth
FIRM
Adjaye Associates
ARTISTS
Keyonna Jones, Kenneth Graves, Cary Michael Robinson
THEME
Community & Entrepreneurship
YEAR
2025