Working with the Office of Student Affairs, I invited all residents in the dorm to participate. I designed  a series of patterns, broken down into a series of individual stencils as a “visual toolbox,” and worked with the students to apply their own patterns from this kit-of-parts directly onto the walls. In this way, they were able to activate their individual creativity through the arrangement of forms, harnessing the inherent rules that I had established. In the process, the students bonded with each other and gave them a sense of ownership of the space where they lived.

Fast forward to spring 2024. I returned to the building and worked with a different group of students to activate another residential floor of the dorm — this time helping them make their own patterns, which we then turned into individual stencils and painted on the walls. This second iteration brought deeper engagement and richer creativity to those students who participated.

Beyond the end result of introducing pleasing wall graphics to the interior environment of a dormitory, the project also served as a practical way to teach pattern design, engaging students in both design and arrangement, and deepening their understanding of visual composition.

In the end, the project demonstrated how breaking from tradition can lead to something fresh and collaborative. It gave students a way to personalize their space, while fostering creativity and community.