Margarette Leite joined Portland State University in 2008. She is an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture and a Fellow of the Center for Public Interest Design. She teaches architectural design, building technology, materials research and community-engaged design/build to both graduate and undergraduate students. Her work as an architect and educator is directed at creating community-engaged teaching and research-based initiatives that leverage community and industry partnerships to solve real world problems.
Her work with students and communities includes design, master planning services and design/build projects for local non-profits and school communities. One of her current projects is a statewide initiative to build and distribute a healthier, greener and more affordable modular classroom. The SAGE Classroom was awarded an international SEED award in 2013, five awards for green design from the Modular Building Institute and currently serves 120 school classrooms throughout the Pacific Northwest, with the first Canadian prototype under construction. She is also a lead in the Small Backyard Homes Initiative, a multi-partner project aimed at crafting an all-inclusive design, management and financing package for the construction of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) for struggling homeowners in the Portland area.
Margarette’s work in the area of material and building technologies is aimed at exploring material solutions that impact communities by partnering with local industries to develop solutions to large scale waste issues faced by Portland and other cities. These projects engage students in the research, design and fabrication of building products made from recycled or repurposed materials. Her pedagogical goal is to eliminate the barrier of intimidation that technology often represents for students of architecture and to encourage hands on research and exploration in the sustainable use of materials and reduction of waste.
Margarette has been the recipient of two civic engagement awards from the University and has been a featured speaker at various forums nationally on public interest design. She has published three chapters on her work with the SAGE classroom and her experience developing University /Community partnerships in general. She is currently working on a book entitled Materials Renewed: Architectural Innovation Through Material Reuse, to be published by Routledge Press.