1. Massie Common School House Historical Marker. Courtesy of the Georgia Historical Society. https://www.georgiahistory.com/ghmi_marker_updated/massie-common-school-house/(opens in new tab).
2. Interior Rendering View 1, created by Boyuan Wei, 2026.
3. Interior Rendering View 3, created by Boyuan Wei, 2026.
4. Interior Rendering View 4, created by Boyuan Wei, 2026.
5. Outdoor Rendering View 1, created by Boyuan Wei, 2026.
6. Outdoor Rendering View 4, created by Boyuan Wei, 2026.
7. Massie Common School House, Savannah, Georgia. Photograph by Boyuan Wei, 2026.
8. Massie Common School House History Exhibition Hall, Savannah, Georgia. Photograph by Boyuan Wei, 2026.
9. Photograph of Bernard Mallon in The Massie Common School Historical Sketches by Saxon Pope Bargeron. Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Georgia.
10. Photograph of Massie School circa 1870 in The Massie Common School Historical Sketches by Saxon Pope Bargeron. Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Georgia.

For the creative part of this project, I designed a small pop-up coffee shop inspired by the Massie School and Savannah’s public history. As an interior design student, I wanted to respond to my research through space, atmosphere, and material, instead of only writing about history in text. I chose a pop-up format because it brings history into a more everyday experience. It makes public history feel less distant and more connected to the way people move, look, and stay in a space.

The design is connected to my research in several ways. The exterior façade is inspired by the Savannah River, so its flowing shape suggests the movement of water. I wanted to show that Savannah’s history and development cannot be separated from the river and the sea. Trade, transportation, and the growth of the city were all closely connected to water. I also used semi-transparent gradient acrylic panels on the outside, so the displays inside can be seen only partly from the street. This creates curiosity and invites visitors to come closer and enter the space.

For the interior, my main inspiration came from the ship-like wooden frame structures shown in the Massie exhibitions. I used repeated curved ribs and a layered structure, so the whole space feels like the inside of a vessel. In my idea, a pop-up works like a ship that carries both visible and less visible histories. Some stories are clearly presented, while others stay partial or hidden. In this way, visitors do not only look at history from outside. They enter a space already shaped by it. Through this design, I wanted to connect river, maritime memory, architecture, and public history in one everyday environment.

Adler, Emma. "Massie Heritage Center." New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified Jun 5, 2013. Accessed April 2026. https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/massie-heritage-center/(opens in new tab).

Bargeron, Saxon Pope. The Massie Common School Historical Sketches. Savannah, 1976. Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Georgia.

Georgia Historical Society. “Historical Markers.” Accessed April 2026. https://georgiahistory.com/education-outreach/historical-markers/(opens in new tab).

Georgia Historical Society. “James Edward Oglethorpe: Savannah’s City Plan.” Accessed April 2026. https://www.georgiahistory.com/resource/james-edward-oglethorpe/oglethorpe-and-savannahs-city-plan/(opens in new tab).

Georgia Historical Society. “Massie Common School House.” Accessed April 2026. https://www.georgiahistory.com/ghmi_marker_updated/massie-common-school-house/(opens in new tab).

Massie Heritage Center. “Massie Heritage Center.” Accessed April 2026. https://spwww.sccpss.com/schools/massie/Pages/default.aspx(opens in new tab).

Savannah-Chatham County Public School System. “Massie Heritage Center.” Accessed April 2026. https://massie.sccpss.com/(opens in new tab).

Wilson, Thomas D. The Oglethorpe Plan: Enlightenment Design in Savannah and Beyond. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012. Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Georgia.