How can design education open new professional pathways while equipping students to create healthier, more inclusive communities? 

Expanding Access to Architecture 

The people most affected by inequitable access to healthy, well-designed environments are often underrepresented in the profession shaping those places. Supported by an LS3P Foundation grant, North Carolina Central University’s Eyrie Initiative connects architectural education with mentorship, applied research, and community collaboration. The program positions design as a means of strengthening opportunity, wellbeing, and shared civic life. 

“Design education can be a platform for community wellbeing, opportunity, and shared leadership.” 

A Community Design Center Takes Shape 

Led by Scott Singeisen, NOMA, Associate Professor of Architecture, the initiative brings students together with practicing architects, visiting professionals, academic institutions, and Durham organizations including the Hayti Heritage Center, Durham Community Land Trusteeship, AIAT, Preservation Durham, and NC State University. Its Community Design Center serves as both a teaching setting and a public resource, linking coursework with mentorship, workshops, research, and locally focused design inquiry. 

With 32 students currently enrolled in NCCU’s pre-architecture program, the Eyrie Initiative is building a collaborative framework for architectural learning grounded in representation and real community priorities. Through professional guidance, interdisciplinary study, public dialogue, and hands-on partnerships, students examine how design decisions influence neighborhoods, health, and quality of life. The initiative’s longer-term promise is to strengthen NCCU’s architecture concentration while preparing emerging designers to advance equity and social responsibility across the Southeast.