The Divine Nine Plaza I Atlanta, Georgia

The Divine Nine Plaza

Atlanta, Georgia I Georgia Tech University

The Divine Nine Plaza

Atlanta, Georgia I Georgia Tech University

The Divine Nine Plaza is a 0.18 acre project located on Georgia Tech’s Campus in Atlanta, Georgia. It celebrates the nine historical African American fraternity and sorority organizations, dating back to 1906. These organizations have been seeking a place on campus to claim as their own and now in 2023 this evidences this long sought goal. After several in-person and virtual meetings with Georgia tech staff, students and alumni, a space was created embracing the history, culture and sacredness of these unique organizations.

A stage was designed on the northeast of the site to allow performances to take place, continuing the organizations rich history of performance. Nine individual plots were placed on the northwest of the site to provide nine intimate spaces where each organization can claim as their own, displaying their individual colors, crests, and story. In the middle of the nine plots is a common space for all to enjoy and come together. On the south is a flexible lawn space designed for events including tailgating, cookouts and picnics. The planting was carefully selected to be suitable to the climate and conditions of the site, as a way to enhance the urban forest aesthetic representative of Georgia Tech’s Campus.

This space is a reflection of all the Divine Nine voices, their legacy and history, as they reclaim their rightful place on the Georgia Tech Campus.

The Groundbreaking event was held on Saturday, April 22, 2023

The Opening Ceremony event was held on Saturday, October 28, 2023

Experience the energy and celebration—check out photos and videos of the Divine Nine members making powerful memories in the space on the official NPHC Instagram account: gt_nphc

Client

Georgia Tech University & The Divine Nine

Project Team

Landscape Architect - Designer I DesignJones LLC

Contractor I J.M. Wilkerson Construction Co. Inc.

Civil Engineering I Eberly & Associates

Electrical Engineering I Newcomb & Boyd

Project Status

Complete 2023

Size

0.18 Acres

Award

TX ASLA Merit Award 2024 I Design Constructed I Institutional, Corporate or Commercial

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Nu Mu Chapter

2024

Video Source: Georgia Tech NPHC Instagram

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“[This site] will serve as a testament to the legacy of the generations who have walked before us,” “It will also speak to the power of a community laying the groundwork for those who come after.”

— Jordine Jones (fourth-year industrial engineering major) (Source: Georgia Tech News)
“When I think back to my time as an undergrad at Georgia Tech, one of the conversations I found myself participating in was a desire – and in many ways a need – to provide space and recognition for the school’s National Pan-Hellenic Council of Greek Organizations. Becoming a brother of Kappa Alpha Psi in 2017, it was easy to recognize the presence of other Greek organizations at Tech with their houses decorating campus, whereas our collective of NPHC orgs always found ourselves relegated to small, not always available space or unofficial houses off campus. Moments appeared and as quickly disappeared when conversations would arise to the question of providing a space for Black Greeks on campus, so it was much to my surprise when several years after graduating I learned that a project would not only happen, but also that it would be completed by a Black landscape architecture team: DesignJones LLC."

— Michael Bryan (MLA Harvard Graduate Student & Georgia Tech Alumni of International Affairs & City Planning) (Source: Boston ASLA Insta)
“I visit Divine Nine Plaza every time I return to Georgia. It has become an influential project of landscape architecture for myself, reflecting the importance of the journey communities go through—both in success and challenges—to see themselves reflected in a space that can represent their identity and memories. The care that the DesignJones LLC team took with designing the space makes me proud to have been a part of the collective generation of voices calling for it to become a reality.”

— Michael Bryan (MLA Harvard Graduate Student & Georgia Tech Alumni of International Affairs & City Planning) (Source: Boston ASLA Insta)