With the majority of its employees working remotely for nearly two years, National Guardian Life Insurance Company used the opportunity to refresh its 58-year-old headquarters, located blocks from the Madison, Wisconsin, capitol. In 2020, NGL approached Michael Ford, an award-winning, licensed architect and owner of BrandNu Design, a multidisciplinary design firm focused on architecture, fashion and education, with an opportunity to partner on a custom artwork installation for its remodeled lobby.
“We aligned on the most prominent space at the main entrance in our lobby for Michael to develop a concept using NGL’s diversity, equity and inclusion pledge. He took our commitment to DEI and incorporated his design process, which converts lyrics into textiles,” said NGL’s Dwayne Maddox, assistant vice president of marketing and inclusion experience. Ford, known as the Hip-Hop Architect, designed a one-of-a-kind, two-story stone piece that embodies NGL’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion as an integral part of its mission, vision and values.
“This project is important to me because it is the first built project that incorporates my process for mathematically deconstructing words and reconstructing those sonic experiences into something physically tangible, such as textiles. On a bigger scale, this project is important because of the fact it’s a statement about diversity and inclusion,” said Ford.
The Text[Tiles] wall takes NGL’s words and literally casts them in stone. Ford describes the project as modern-day hieroglyphics. He starts by deconstructing the statement letter by letter, using a process he created that converts music lyrics into architecture based on syllable counts, rhyme schemes and other mathematical information extracted from text. The reconstructed statement is made letter by letter and word by word as a series of stone tiles representing each letter in the text.
NGL and Ford view the project’s value as adding to the Madison community and beyond. “The value of this project goes beyond the physical installation. This collaboration allows for me, a Black architect in Madison, to display a unique approach to design while also celebrating other Black architects throughout the state,” said Ford.
NGL anticipates the installation will be completed by its May 2022 building reopening. nglic.com