Interagency Academy students brought to life a vision developed by members from Africatown Center for Education and Innovation (ACEI) and designers from the American Institute of Architects’ Diversity Roundtable.

Drawing inspiration from both traditional and contemporary African architecture, designers came up with a beautiful structure suited to the needs of the ACEI farm and garden in Columbia City. Though this project was straightforward in scope, no design-build project is too small to be rooted in concepts that are culturally, historically, visually, politically, and/or artistically relevant. With the guidance of our lead builder, Emmy Smith, and help from our superstar volunteers and interns from the Wood Technology Center, the students were able to translate this design into three dimensions and build the full spectrum of framing to detail work.

Partnering with our close neighbors at ACEI and DRT meant students were able to discuss the design with the designers and client to get more insight into the roots and impact of their project. With so many individual details and pieces, this project saw our students rising to the challenge and excelling on the saws, drills, nailers, and staplers as well as getting to do quite a bit of creative design and problem solving themselves.