EPACENTER, East Palo Alto, CA / 2017-2020 (image courtesy of Quinlin Messenger)
AIA St. Louis Scholarship Trust Lecture: Quinlin Messenger
Join us April 11 for a lecture with Quinlin Messenger titled “From apart to a part - what if ?!” Reception to follow talk in Etta’s, sponsored by AIA St. Louis.
As a design justice and equity steward, Quinlin Messenger’s leadership and creative identity are rooted in his African American, Native American, and Jewish heritage. He channels and honors these legacies through design justice, an awareness and healing modality that is at the core of his practice, engaging communities and projects with a sensitivity and focus towards healthy living, social and environmental empowerment, and legacy cultivation. With over 15 years of experience working with underserved communities, Messenger believes design is a tool for social and environmental transformation and that systems can and should be just for all. Understanding the historical, current, and future contexts of projects is integral to Messenger’s process and approach, integrating co-creative and eco-centered practices to address the deepest challenges our communities and ecosystems face.
One AIA continuing education credit available.
Quinlin Messenger delivered the AIA St Louis Scholarship Trust Lecture at WashU’s Sam Fox School April 11, 2024.
8to80 (East Palo Alto, CA / 2021-2022)
(image courtesy of Quinlin Messenger)
As a place for ESPORTs, robotics, performance, digital arts, production labs, community lounge, and courtyard classrooms, this digital educational center for the Ravenswood Middle School evolved from and out of the surrounding orchard as a 3-dimensional grid, creating a diverse set of suggested spaces that act as an armature for infinite opportunity and possibility, fostering student collaboration as a generator of social and environmental change.
Garden Street (East Palo Alto, CA / 2017-2018)
(image courtesy of Quinlin Messenger)
As a way to honor and carry forward a family’s legacy to serve their community, looked to reimagine an existing house as a community transition home for young adults, with a focus on wellness and re-entry services for individuals released from the prison system. This project was the genesis of a design justice process, and was derived from a series of local community engagement workshops.
Educational Cultural Complex (ECC) (San Diego, CA / present)
(image courtesy of Quinlin Messenger)
Through a robust series of community gathering workshops, we cocreated a diverse program including permanent and rotating cultural exhibition spaces, immersive galleries, community rooms, cafe, flexible classrooms, art gardens, curatorial labs, and a Living Archive. The ceiling evolved as a 3 dimensional “ancestral plane” where sky offerings take shape…an ecosystem where diversity flourishes, shared characteristics forge spaces of belonging, and interactions drive resilience
Birmigham Museum of Art (Birmingham, AL / 2015-2016)
(image courtesy of Quinlin Messenger)
The feasibility study investigated the capacity for the Birmingham Museum of Art to renovate their existing footprint and plan for future expansions. To guide the study, a strategic engagement process was developed and included a wide gamut of stakeholders ranging from museum staff, school groups, underserved users, donors, and surrounding institutions. A synthesis of the data gathered led to a series as a cultural beacon and icon for the city.
Quinlin Messenger
(image courtesy of Quinlin Messenger)