Prism Design Workshops - Summer 2026 in Partnership with MCJC Freedom School

This summer, Prism Design Lab partnered with the Marian Cheek Jackson Center (MCJC) Freedom School to lead a three-part design workshop series that challenged approximately 30 high school students to explore the relationship between architecture, community design, and food justice.

Over three interactive workshops, students examined how the built environment influences food access before designing their own solutions. From edible landscapes to resilient community food hubs.

Workshop 1 (28 July): Understanding Food Access and the Built Environment.

Through mapping exercises, discussions, and local case studies, students explored how transportation, neighborhood design, grocery store locations, and community resources shape access to healthy food.

Working in teams, students analyzed neighborhoods by identifying grocery stores, convenience stores, farmers' markets, walking routes, and barriers that residents might encounter. They then learned from inspiring local organizations, including Sankofa Farms and the Black Farmers Market, that are creating innovative solutions to food insecurity across North Carolina.

Workshop 2 (28 July): Designing an Edible Landscape

With a broader understanding of food access, students shifted their focus to the landscape.

Working in collaborative teams, they transformed ordinary sites into edible landscapes that could provide fresh food while creating welcoming spaces for gathering, learning, and connecting.

Using clay, tracing paper, cardboard, magazines, and recycled materials, students developed site plans and three-dimensional models featuring fruit trees, vegetable gardens, pollinator habitats, composting systems, rainwater collection, accessible pathways, and outdoor learning spaces.

Workshop 3 (29 July): Designing a Community Food Hub

The final workshop challenged students to think even bigger.

Rather than designing a landscape, teams envisioned an entire Community Food Hub, which is a place where neighbors could grow, prepare, share, and distribute food while building resilience for the future.

Students designed spaces that included community gardens, seed libraries, tool lending programs, community kitchens, gathering spaces, educational resources, produce stands, and food storage facilities.

At the end of the workshop, each team presented its vision, explaining whom their hub would serve, the community needs it addressed, and how thoughtful design could strengthen food security and climate resilience.

At Prism Design Lab, we believe design education empowers young people to become thoughtful problem-solvers who recognize architecture's ability to address real social challenges.

This partnership with the Marian Cheek Jackson Center Freedom School proves that when students are given meaningful problems to solve, they respond with imagination, collaboration, and hope.