Rodney Leon is an American architect. He is the founder of Rodney Leon Architect. He is the designer of the monument "The Ark of Return", and the memorial for the New York City

African Burial Ground National Monument African Burial Ground National Monument is a monument at Duane Street and African Burial Ground Way (Elk Street) in the Civic Center section of Lower Manhattan, New York City. Its main building is the Ted Weiss Federal Building at 290 Broadway. ...

. He specializes in urban planning projects in the United States of America, and abroad, projects with cultural, residential, and religious. He is a member of The Haitian Roundtable (HRT). It is an organization of the Haitian-American professionals committed to civic engagement as well as philanthropic endeavors to benefit Haiti. It was started in 2008.

Early life

Leon was born and raised in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. His parents were immigrants from

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

Career

In 1992, Leon received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Pratt Institute School of Architecture in New York City. In 1995, he received a Masters of Architecture from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. From 1998 to 2003, he was visiting Design Professor at Pratt Institute School of Architecture in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 2003 he was 2nd Year Design Coordinator for Pratt in 2003. He is as an Adjunct Professor of Advanced Design since 2009. Since 2014 Leon is a Capital and Planning Grants Reviewer for the New York State Council of the Arts. In 1998, Leon submitted a proposal to design the

. He was one of the five designers selected from 61 applicants. In 2005, he was designated the official designer for the monument. Rodney Leon was designer, and co-founder along with Nicole Hollant-Denis of the AARRIS Architects were chosen to build the $3 million permanent memorial. The memorial was built on the colonial-era burial ground of enslaved Africans in lower Manhattan, in New York City. The grave site was found in 1991. Leon was the designer of 'The Art of Return' it was the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)'s winning design. It was an international competition. Leon's design entitled the 'Art of Return' was chosen from 310 design proposals from 83 countries that entered the competition. It is installed at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Plaza in

. The Ark is a Permanent Memorial that honors the African victims of enslavement during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. It was unveiled on March 25, 2015. The unveiling of the Ark of Return marked the United Nations'

International Decade for People of African Descent The International Decade for People of African Descent, 2015–2024,

. March 25, 2015 was the starting of the

International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade is a United Nations list of minor secular observances#March, international observance designated in 2007 to be marked on 25 March every year. The day hono ...

. In 2015 Secretary-General of the United Nations

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...

Sam Kutesa Sam Kahamba Kutesa (born 1 February 1949) is a Ugandan politician, businessman and lawyer involved in several corruption cases. By the marriage of his daughter Charlotte Kutesa Muhoozi with Muhoozi he is part of the inner circle of president Mu ...

the President of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

, and Prime Minister

Portia Simpson Miller Portia Lucretia Simpson-Miller (born 12 December 1945) is a Jamaican politician. She served as Prime Minister of Jamaica from March 2006 to September 2007 and again from 5 January 2012 to 3 March 2016. She was the leader of the People's Nationa ...

of Jamaica were the ribbon cutters during unveiling ceremony of “The Ark of Return”. 2008 was the beginning of the

. The beginning theme was "Breaking the Silence, Lest We Forget". Leon is a member of

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

(AIA), and

National Organization of Minority Architects The National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) is a professional organization for individuals practicing architecture and allied professionals to advance justice and equity in communities of color. History In 1968, activist and executiv ...

(NOMA). Leon and Nicole Hollant-Denis are the principal architects for Belle Rive Residential Resort in Jacmel,

. It is a private resort style residential development with 94 townhouses, tower apartments, and a 120-room four start hotel and private club.

Ark of Return Elements

*The design concept of the Ark of Return has three primary elements. The first element is to acknowledge the tragedy. It is a three-dimensional map. The map depicts the global scale of the slave trade. * The second element is to, consider the legacy. It has a full scale human figure lying down. This element is in front of a wall with images of the interior of a slave ship. This element is designed to illustrates the conditions that millions of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n people were subjected to during the

Middle Passage The Middle Passage was the stage of the Atlantic slave trade in which millions of enslaved Africans were transported to the Americas as part of the triangular slave trade. Ships departed Europe for African markets with manufactured goods (first ...

. * The third element, lest we forget is a triangular pool where visitors can reflect and honor the millions of people that lost their lives during the Transatlantic slave trade. African Burial Ground-aerial view-NYC

Architectural projects

Cultural designs

* The Ark of Return * African Burial Ground Memorial * Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts * National Hip Hop Museum Master Plan * Salvation Army Community Center in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn

Residential

* Belle Rive Residential Resort Master Plan * River Front View * Le Coeur Vert * Haiti Softhouse * Cycle of Life Housing

Religious

* Islamic Cultural Center * French Evangelical Church * Convent Avenue Baptist Church Leon is a member of American Institute of Architects (AIA), and National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA). Leon and Nicole Hollant-Denis are the principal architects for Belle Rive Residential Resort in Jacmel,

. It is a private resort style residential development with 94 townhouses, tower apartments, and a 120-room four start hotel and private club.

Quotes

“The African Burial Ground National Monument serves to educate current and future generations about the extreme sacrifices and profound contributions made by enslaved African-descendant communities to the building of our great city and country. The memorial is meant to provide our ancestors with the acknowledgement, dignity and respect in death that they were not afforded in life". ''Rodney Leon''

References

External links

African Burial Ground Exterior MonumentArk of Return Brochure United Nations Art of ReturnArchitect Rodney Leon visits United Nations HeadquartersRodney's Journey: Making the ark of returnThe Ark of Return
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leon, Rodney Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American architects 21st-century American architects American people of Haitian descent Architects from New York City Haitian architects Haitian designers Pratt Institute alumni Pratt Institute faculty