Alex Locadia

Locadia, as the head designer of the New York-based collaborative design firm Afuture, occupies a distinctive space at the intersection of art, craft, and design. His practice transcends conventional boundaries, drawing upon a deep engagement with global cultures while informed by contemporary life's dynamic urban energy. His work evokes futuristic and primal elements, aiming to bridge disparate cultures and epochs through innovative visual language. Initially trained in the automotive design industry, Locadia honed his craft through the bespoke customization of vehicle interiors, utilizing an eclectic array of materials that often defied traditional conventions. This formative experience provided a foundation he would later build during his studies at the Parsons School of Design in New York. He developed a distinctive voice there, merging futuristic visions with primal aesthetics in sculptures and inventive furniture designs.

Locadia's playful yet sophisticated creations soon garnered widespread recognition, with notable works such as the Batman furniture collection for Warner Bros. and the Iliad speakers for Panasonic. These projects captured the attention of diverse sectors, including the music, film, and hospitality industries. As his career evolved, Locadia's design sensibilities expanded into the realms of commercial spaces, producing cutting-edge office interiors (notably for Tommy Boy Records, New York) and refined restaurant environments (such as Match Uptown, New York).

Locadia's contributions have earned him a place in the permanent collections of prestigious institutions, including the The Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, USA), Louvre Museum (Paris, France), Museum of Arts and Design (New York, USA), and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond, USA). Notably, he was the first Black American designer to integrate Afrofuturist ideologies into the design world, challenging traditional paradigms and infusing his work with speculative cultural narratives. Reflecting on his early designs, Locadia posed a provocative question: "What if Black Americans had arrived in this country as Europeans, with their culture intact? What would Black Modernism look like?" Through this lens, his work remains a visionary exploration of identity, time, and cultural possibility.