This team is comprised of an Architecture and Dentistry student/ Spoken Word Artist. The final proposal is a project that merges together architecture, poetry, and history. No subject in the North American past has incited greater discussion and inflamed more controversy than slavery. foundations: a revealing of slavery in south carolina: is the result of a conversation over the domestic slave trade that once existed in Charleston, SC. In 1808 African enslavement was abolished, and as a result, domestic slavery was proliferated allowing slaves to be widely sold in streets at open-air auctions. Subsequently, abolitionists protested that open-air auctions no longer fit the image of the city - ‘Charles Town’, resulting in slave marts like Ryan’s Mart – the inspiration for this project – to be established. Originally four buildings constructed in 1856, the Barracoon, Kitchen, Morgue, and Selling Mart comprised the business known then as Ryan’s Mart. Today there remains one structure left standing on the original site – the Selling Mart. Visiting the site where ancestors were brought and sold, one could not help but to be reminded of the West African proverb: Sankofa – in order to know your future, you must know your past. The idea for this project is to reclaim the original land from the Ryan’s Mart site -presently covered with a parking lot, remove the asphalt, and reveal the original foundations of the three razed buildings. The interstitial space that once connected all four buildings by land would then dictate the form and footprint of the new discovery center. The openings contained within the newly uncovered foundations would then be made into reflective pools in honor of ancestors. The three sloped copper roofs continuously complete the cycle of shedding rainwater into the foundations while also naturally assisting in passive air ventilation throughout the building. The aim of this discovery center is to connect with the small museum that currently exists in the Selling Mart building. Similar to the current museum, the new program will remember past tragedies; however, it will also be a push to discover, educate and celebrate present and future history through inspiring Black educators at all levels of society. foundations: a revealing of slavery in south carolina includes a public café and public open-air ground level, allowing a multitude of people from all walks of life to contribute to the center’s dynamics. In addition, there exists a small residence for the live-in Curator. Although we cannot unfasten the past and the history attached to it, we also cannot screen the past by burying it under a parking lot either. For if we continue to put away the past, we are then at fault for committing an even greater injustice to those who endured slavery and who have carved the paths we now walk. The following spoken word excerpt addresses today’s Black learners and the effect of positive Black educators: …they do not exist in isolation but they have been made to feel alone in the struggle for access to education the casualties continue to grow the system continues to fail the marginalized are pushed back and the affluent prevail the system demands excellence from some but doesn’t expect it from all so used to Black kids dropping out we’re not surprised when another falls when another one goes to jail when another one does some terrible thing and the media tells the tale we’re so insensitive to human suffering we’ve forgotten how to wail or so it seems for how many in the fast-moving mainstream notice the child struggling just to float how many among the educated masses throw a line to give a tow how many are so accustomed to dark shadows in the flow, they barely feel the effort spent on ignoring cries of woe and just how many will honestly concede that rather than help the disadvantaged succeed they would rather, much rather, circumnavigate the debris of the masses who swim in the safety of the mainstream, how many can see that not just the young black learner is in danger of learning the wrong things …There is power in knowing your true history Its not about knowing how low to go to pick up the pieces It is knowing how high to aim to surpass your own greatest achievements But whose history are we taught, whose rhetoric do we teach And what are we told of Africa –where humanity was conceived … so thank god for the black educator the ones with eyes open who teach others to see the literate few who teach the masses to read they say know who wrote the story before you believe because there is a price to pay for not knowing … thank God for those selfless few who standing barefoot in the grass remind lost learners of their truth they whisper to these children to remain at this great height where the earth is at your feet and your brilliance the world’s light