Community Impact
The Hair Salon 2.0 – Zena Garrison Academy
Houston, Texas


Woven with lightweight steel, the towers recreate traditional and contemporary Black hairstyles at an architectural scale, functioning as shading and ventilation chimneys for the planned Zina Garrison Academy (ZGA) in Houston’s Third Ward. The Zina Garrison Academy provides 45 weeks of free tennis and education programming annually for youths aged 6 to 18 in Houston. In addition to on-court instruction, it offers college preparatory classes and lessons on health and wellness, benefiting from a five-year partnership with the University of Texas at Austin for academic enrichment and a community garden. Garrison estimated that the ZGA touched the lives of nearly 25,000 kids in its first two decades. According to current program director Yolanda Sadberry—a former student of Wilkerson’s—ZGA participants have a 99% high school graduation rate, with deep community influence.
In their 30 years of operation, they have provided free tennis instruction to more than 25,000 children. The chimneys shelter below-grade open-air rooms designed for diverse activities, from senior citizen gatherings to reading in an open-air library. The woven chimney structure is equipped with solar-powered, sensor-operated panels that open to allow sunlight in the winter and close in the summer to provide shade, activating the passive ventilation capacity of the chimneys.














