As the immediate areas surrounding many HBCU campuses face rapid gentrification, the need for holistic, culturally affirming healing spaces has never been more urgent.

During the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 semesters, a cohort of eight fourth-year Howard architecture students participated in a pilot “design health studio” led by Professors Monte O. Harris, Farhana Ferdous, and Yiselle Santos-Rivera. The studio’s learning objectives centered on creating site-specific buildings integrating “The New Immunity” pillars of culture-centered preventive healthcare, a framework developed by Dr. Harris.

The New Immunity framework positions racism as an environmental toxin that harms human health and well-being. Guided by this lens, students explored how architecture can elevate HBCUs and their historic African American neighborhoods as vibrant wellness destinations—places where people of all backgrounds seek beloved community, compassionate care, spiritual renewal, and intergenerational learning rooted in Black Joy.