Where: Portland, Oregon

When: 2020-Present

Role: Co-Director & Project Manager

Partners: TriMet, Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, Portland Bureau of Transportation, Portland Clean Energy Fund, METRO, Portland State University, KPFF Civil Engineering.

Awards and Recognitions:

• PCEF Implementation Grant

• PCEF Planning Grant

• METRO Place-making grant

• 2024 Van Evera Bailey Fellowship - Architecture Foundation of Oregon

Photos/Image Credit: Marta Petteni & Jung Choothian

In January 2020, TriMet, the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability and PSU’s Center for Public Interest Design launched the MAX Reuse Design Challenge - a design competition that invited designers to explore visions for the repurposing of retiring MAX cars to help address Portland’s critical issues including homelessness, climate change, housing insecurity, and racial inequity, while preventing these cars from ending up as waste or scrap. The winning AfroVillage’s design, which secured the People’s Choice Award, envisioned converting three retiring MAX trains to create an “AfroFuturism Oasis” – sanctuary space that integrate nature, clean energy, and Afro-design to create a healing hub for Black and Brown communities to rest, collaborate, innovate, and access pathways to economic empowerment.

As Project Manager for the AfroFuturism Oasis project I have exciting efforts including signing a lease contract with PBOT for the N Larrabee site, at the core of Portland’s historic Black community, grant writing (securing over 2 million), and completing a feasibility study. The trains will land on site in Summer 2025, before undergoing interior remodeling. The trains will host restrooms, a kitchenette, co-working areas, wellness spaces, free wifi and more. The Oasis will be connected to utilities but able to go off-grid in case of an emergency, ushering a prosperous future centered on Black resilience and empowerment.