Long-running plans to build a permanent home for the Universal Hip-Hop Museum (UHHM) in the US have moved a step closer to reality, after architects BrandNu Design unveiled renderings showing what the project could look like.

A disused courthouse in The Bronx, New York, has been proposed as the site of the museum – the first time a specific building has been suggested.

BrandNu’s proposal for the 38,000sq ft (3,500sq m) area includes restaurants, a retail gallery section, interactive areas, a screening room and an amphitheater centered around a sculpture. The main exhibition halls track the formation and development of hip hop – which was born in The Bronx.

"When people walk in, the first thing they are going to be greeted with is an amazing lobby area, which will open up to a theatre," UHHM chair Rocky Bucano told local publication News12.

The design team are led by “hip hop Architect” Mike Ford, who specialises in the intersection of the musical culture and the built environment.

UHHM is currently a virtual museum that will officially launch in November. Virtual reality exhibits about the birth of hip hop will be made available on smartphones and mobile devices.

The museum’s backers include hip hop pioneers such as Kurtis Blow, Grandmaster Melle Mel and Afrika Bambaataa.

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