HCD Memory Tiles: Honoring Oldenborg

“This is so special and unique because it’s one of the first times I’m seeing a project I worked on in HCD be fully realized in the world…and it’s on one of our campuses!” – Mira Shah (PZ’27)

In her first Intro to Human-Centered Design class at the Hive, Mira Shah (PZ ‘27) worked on a project to commemorate Pomona’s Oldenborg Center for Modern Languages and International Relations. For over 60 years, Oldenborg has served as a residential, dining, and academic hub designed for language immersion and cultural study, creating meaningful experiences for students from all backgrounds. 

Soon, the new Center for Global Engagement will take shape where Oldenborg currently stands, serving as a novel, living, breathing liberal arts laboratory. Mira’s HCD team ‘MAGES,’ considered: “How might we serve the needs of students with strong ties to Oldenborg in the intermediary period between the destruction of the building and the establishment of the new Center?” 

While interviewing students to gain insight into what they loved about Oldenborg, they heard so many stories and great memories associated with it, as well as the resources it provided. Mira’s team decided to create a way for students to reflect on their time and incorporate that reflection into the new Center, and thus, the “Memory Tiles” idea was born. Just because the building goes away doesn’t mean the connections do, and it’s important to those who interact with it to honor and commemorate those in some way as the building becomes something new. 

As the project has been adopted and is set to be implemented by the Oldenborg team, everyone who participates will paint a tile about a memory or a time they’ve had, and then put them together in the interim in the blue room at Frank Dining Hall. When the Global Engagement Center is ready, the tiles will be put up on a wall to create a visual mural that represents Oldenborg’s impact in a new setting.

“I’m glad we built something that will resonate with students and get to be in the actual building. It’s empowering to see something I’ve worked on in a class be put out in the world, to know someone is seeing it and believes in it,” Mira shared.

“We have many real-world partners in HCD classes, who I know will consider and think deeply about our work, but I don’t often see it realized because processes take a long time, and logistics are time-consuming.”

Crystal Gammon, Pomona’s Assistant VP for Advancement Communications, shared her thoughts on the process:

“It’s been so wonderful to see students, alumni, and the entire campus community come together to celebrate Oldenborg in this heartfelt — and colorful! — way. 

The Global Pomona Student Working Group, which led the tile project, really wanted to create meaningful, personal and lasting opportunities for the community to commemorate Oldenborg. Thanks to their amazing efforts and outreach, and thanks to the expertise of our partners at the Hive, they did just that!

I am proud to have helped them capture the Oldenborg community’s spirit, and we look forward to displaying this project throughout the transition period and finding a home for it in the new Center for Global Engagement. The Oldenborg community is really the foundation of all that will come next — and I am grateful we were able to commemorate it in this way.

written by Salina Muñoz