Designing for the Future: AfroVillage PDX x Creative Neighborhoods

This year’s Pickathon was more than just a festival of music and community—it was a proving ground for the power of collaborative design. Creative Neighborhoods partnered with AfroVillage PDX to bring sustainability and social impact to life in the Windmill neighborhood in partnership with Kaleido Studio and Pinnacle Architecture.

The Windmill design team worked alongside AfroVillage to create a unique set of vendor booths for the festival—structures built not just for our four day city, but for a second life. After Pickathon wrapped, these booths were relocated and are to be rebuilt as greenhouses at the AfroFuturism Oasis site, where they will help supplement the AfroVillage Food Pantry program with fresh, locally grown produce.

Designing for downstream is a key element to Creative Neighborhoods mission at Pickathon. Every build has the potential to live on—serving communities, reducing waste, and strengthening the connections between creativity, sustainability, and social equity.

AfroVillage PDX is a visionary force for empowerment and mutual aid in Portland, and we’re proud to be building with them—literally and figuratively. Together, we’re proving that sustainability isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a practice that can transform how we design, build, and share resources.

This project represents the future of Creative Neighborhoods: cross-sector partnerships that merge design, construction, and community care to create long-term impact.