The non-profit Vilcek Foundation has created a manga comic starring Zambia-born South African architect Denise Scott Brown as part of its mission to raise awareness of immigrants' contribution to the US.
Scott Brown is the subject of the first in a series of manga comics that will be made about the lives of the non-profit organisation's Vilcek Prize winners.
The pioneer of postmodern architecture was one of the first winners of the prize in 2007.
Scott Brown first in series focused on immigrant artists
The comic illustrates her childhood in South Africa through to her career in the US and the difficulties of being recognised in a field dominated by men.
"We chose to engage manga for its fresh and accessible approach to storytelling," said Vilcek Foundation president Rick Kinsel. "Manga, at its best, has an ability to convey subtle, nuanced, and abstract story lines," he told Dezeen. "The visual format allows us to share complex and notional ideas in a concise manner."
The manga starts with Scott Brown's childhood in South Africa
Kinsel chose to begin the series with Scott Brown as she stood out to him as a "kind, wise and benevolent" figure and the foundation hoped her story would translate into the format well.
"The concept for a manga came out of a long conversation I had with Denise last summer, when she was in isolation due to the pandemic," Kinsel said.
"We wanted to document elements of Denise's story and lega...