Date/Time: November 7, 2026 | 9:00 – 10:00 am

Room: YAKIMA 1

Abstract: How can the design of a school embody the values of its namesake—and empower students to shape that legacy themselves? The new Ida B. Wells High School in Portland, Oregon, explores this question by translating the life and work of journalist and civil rights leader Ida B. Wells into the architecture, materials, and shared spaces of a next-generation learning environment.

Renamed through a student-led process, the school upholds Wells’ enduring commitment to truth, transparency, and justice as core to its identity. From the earliest stages of planning the replacement school, students have played a central role in shaping how those values are expressed in the design. Over the past two years, a student Design Club has met biweekly with the design team, providing insights that have directly informed key decisions about the building’s spaces, character, and experience.

Students have also collaborated with experiential graphic designers to co-create large-scale graphics and interpretive elements that will appear throughout the new school’s major public spaces. These installations celebrate Ida B. Wells’ legacy while giving students an authentic role in defining the visual and cultural identity of their school.

The project demonstrates how student perspectives have influenced elements ranging from exterior design and material choices to the colors, textures, and storytelling embedded in the building’s interior environments. By integrating student voices into both process and place, the project illustrates how school design can honor history while empowering the next generation to carry its lessons forward.

Learning Objectives:

1. Analyze strategies for translating the values and legacy of a school’s namesake into architectural and experiential design elements in the learning environment, including material selection, spatial organization, and storytelling.
2. Apply replicable engagement methods that incorporate student voice into the design process, such as structured student advisory groups, design workshops, and collaborative decision-making with project teams.
3. Evaluate how student participation can influence measurable design outcomes, including exterior materials, interior environments, and experiential graphics that reinforce school identity and belonging.
4. Develop approaches for aligning school design with learning and community identity, using participatory processes that empower students to contribute meaningfully to the cultural narrative of their school.