Getting in Touch With the Black Imagination at the Oculus

The Institute of Black Imagination, in the Oculus at the World Trade Center PATH station, is an experiment in cultural alchemy. It turns a retail store called Space 001, typically a space for transaction, into a place of transformation, providing public access to an archive of thousands of books, periodicals and record albums pertaining to Black culture. The store serves as a platform for innovative Black designers of all kinds, who sometimes make personal appearances.

The institute, a nonprofit, was opened in October 2024 by Dario Calmese, a creative director for the Pyer Moss fashion brand, an intermittent dance choreographer and a visual artist. In 2020 he became the first Black photographer to shoot a Vanity Fair cover (of the actress Viola Davis).

There is also a podcast from the institute, of the same name, that explores unconventional thinking from a range of industries and disciplines. One of its purposes, Calmese says, is “to give people access to the conversations I wish I had access to when I was a young Black kid in St Louis.”

Last week, I.B.I. celebrated the 100th episode with a live recording at Space 001, featuring Paul Tazewell, who recently won the Academy Award for best costume design for “Wicked.”

I recently spoke with Calmese about the origins of I.B.I. and what he hopes to accomplish in this location. The interview has been edited for clarity.

Carmen de Lavallade, the wife of the choreographer Geoffrey Holder, and their son, Leo, donated some of his books for a reference library in Space 001. Credit…Guarionex Rodriguez for The New York Times