Sweet Auburn Identity & Wayfinding
The Sweet Auburn neighborhood is a historic district defined by its rich legacy of African American unity, economic development, and civil rights activism. To reclaim and celebrate this legacy, JIMA Studio developed a cultural identity and wayfinding concept plan that strengthens connections throughout the district. With particular focus on a “Heroes Walk”, JIMA Studio proposed an adaptable, district-wide identity that embraces the entire neighborhood. A key part of the plan is an accessible totem wayfinding system that provides both directional guidance and historical context, ensuring visitors can easily navigate and engage with the area's landmarks. This process was coupled with a documentary-style video short, highlighting important voices of the district calling to arms an interest to reinvest in Sweet Auburn, developed and produced by award-winning documentarian Naeema Torres.
Client
Sweet Auburn Works
Location
Atlanta, Georgia
Year
2023 - 2026
Historic and contemporary images of Sweet Auburn buildings that helped to nurture the national Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
Throughout the ideation process, JIMA Studio regularly collaborated with Sweet Auburn Works on the design intent and direction. In conjunction with research on historic symbology and main street guidelines, the totem pattern focuses on the “Flying Geese” quilting pattern, a pattern used by runaways in their flight to freedom to the North. However, due to the recent migration of African Americans back to the South, the southern arrow in the pattern is stylized to embrace that shift, and quietly invite others to return South to invest in Sweet Auburn.
Team
Ujijji Williams | Michelle Urano | Shandra Bernath-Plaisted | Joseph Powell
Location
Atlanta, Georgia
Credits
Civil Engineer: KAIZEN Collaborative
Landscape Architect of Record: Day & Day Company
Graphic Design: Isidor Studio
Cultural Film: Enn Jay Productions