Sensitivity, Planning, Materiality - The NK'Mip Cultural Center

SENSITIVITY, PLANNING AND MATERIALITY – THE NK’MIP CULTURAL CENTRE ARCH-4016EL-01 – Cultural Sustainability Angela E. Perdue 28 November 2018

INTRODUCTION Located only 5.5km away from the Canadian-American border in one of Canada’s most unique ecosystems, the Nk’Mip Cultural Centre emerges from the earth. 1 The landscape in which it is situated is as diverse as its long history, belonging not only to the Okanagan Valley, but also the northernmost extent of the Great American Desert. 2 The Nk’Mip Cultural Centre sits amidst the 32,000-acre Osoyoos Indian Reserve overlooking the town of Osoyoos, British Columbia. 3 The Centre was designed for the Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB)—a First Nations People who have occupied the region long before their reserve was established in 1877. 4 In the larger context, the band is closely linked with the other 7 bands that comprise of the Okanagan Nation, including one located across the United States border. 5 The band is affiliated with over 8 different businesses that employ people from all over the region and beyond. The Cultural Centre is among these businesses, mainly belonging to the indigenous tourism sector. 6 Designed by Hotson Bakker Boniface Hadden Architects (HBBH), 7 the 12,000-square-foot building is centered around teaching, exhibition, and gathering—serving additionally as a meeting space for the 520 members of the Osoyoos band. 8 It opened in June 2006 and it cost nearly $3.6 million (CAD) upon completion. 9 Among its merits is the 18-foot-high rammed earth wall that spans for over 250 feet. 10 The design of the building hailed numerous awards including a governor general’s medal for Excellence in Architecture. 11 The success of the project lies not only in the architectural design, but also in the sensitivity to the context and the ingenuity in which the project was conceived from a socioeconomic standpoint. Explored will be the issue of a lack of sensitivity – both societal and ecological –, the lack of indigenous planning, and finally the issue of expressing identity through materiality.

Leo.-Paul Dana, International Handbook of Research on Indigenous Entrepreneurship (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007), 336.

Joy Monice Malnar and Frank Vodvarka. New Architecture on Indigenous Lands (University of Minnesota Press, 2013), 57.

3 Pieris, Indigenous Cultural Centers and Museums: An Illustrated International Survey (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016), 198.

4 Katie Bresner, “Sharing Identity through Indigenous Tourism: Osoyoos Indian Band’s Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Center,” Anthropologica 56, no. 1 (2014): 139, https://muse.jhu.edi/article/544748.

5 Pieris, Indigenous Cultural Centers, 198.

6 Ibid.

7 Peero Thakre, “Earth and Sky: A Brilliantly Constructed Building Captures the Essence of the Mystical Desert Landscape and the Culture of the First Nations People of the Okanagan Region,” Canadian Architect 52, no. 3 (2007): 27.

8 Pieris, Indigenous Cultural Centers, 198; Russell Fortmeyer, “In Canada, a Rammed-Earth Wall for the Ages: A Cultural Center of the Okanagan First Nations People, Osoyoos, B.C.” 196, no. 3 (August 2008): 162–63.

9 Fortmeyer, “In Canada, a Rammed-Earth.”

10 Ibid., Malnar, New Architecture, 57.

11 Ibid., 58.

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SENSITIVITY: DEMONSTRATING SENSIBILITY IN THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS To begin, the idea of cultural and ecological sensitivity will be explored with respect to the conception of the Nk’Mip Cultural Centre and the issues that arise with such projects. From a cultural perspective, the architect-client relationship was not left neglected. The client, the Osoyoos Indian Band, was represented by Band Elders, key representatives, and Chief Clarence Louie – the bands leader and main consultant on the project. 12 Multiday workshops were also held in Osoyoos to establish concepts and main goals with consultants and the public. 13 The principal at HBBH, Bruce Haden, would work closely with project architect Brady Dunlop to draw upon important values within the community at an early stage in the project: “Our goal was to present to Osoyoos band’s long tenure on the land, and their future.” 14 This brings about one of the largest challenges in the project—the challenge of addressing the physiology of the land on which the building would sit considering the unique climate condition and the sensitive ecosystem.

The design of the building was strongly influenced by sustainability objectives. According to the architects, the orientation of the building was the first step towards this objective. 15 The building was oriented north-south to minimize solar exposure on the southern elevation. With a desert climate, the Osoyoos region of the Okanagan Valley is faced with temperature variations of up to an astonishing 58 degrees (between -18 to +40). 16 This was addressed by partly burying the building into the side of the mountain, using the thermal regulating properties of earth to mitigate thermal stress in the building during extreme fluctuations in air temperature. This gesture allowed for a graceful integration of a green roof that further contributed to the regulating effect. 17 From a distance, the Nk’Mip is receding into the land as an almost harmless insertion into the landscape.

Malnar, New Architecture, 58; Pieris, Indigenous Cultural Centers, 202.

Malnar, New Architecture, 58.

14 Ibid.

15 Ibid., 57.

16 Pieris, Indigenous Cultural Centers, 199.

17 Malnar, New Architecture, 57-58.

12 13

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In addition to the use of site as a resource for sustainability, the design also employs a grand rammed earth wall that spans the whole project. Facing west, this rammed earth acts as a thermal mass that can collect the Okanagan heat and re-emit this into the building during cold desert nights. The rammed earth technique is not only celebrated, but it also outperforms concrete in term of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Glazing on the building was kept to a minimum on the south and west elevations, keeping with the architectural expression of the wall and passive solar optimization. 18 During the design, Osoyoos band member Brenda Baptiste, later to be general manager of the Centre, mentioned, “We wanted something breathtaking, but with very little footprint on the land.” 19 This was successfully achieved through the narrowness fostered by the initial layout choices and serves to nestle the building within the hillside.

Working on the site, it was observed by Haden what the Osoyoos people have known for centuries—that this unique place was full of natural contradictions and valuable insight into the natural environment. Nearby, it was observed that a small stream existed, surrounded by a bounty of greenery—this, in the midst of one of Canada’s harshest deserts: “you can literally see how a tiny bit of extra water makes a huge difference in the kind of vegetation that is possible.” 20 This called for reason to be even more sensitive of the building’s impact. The existence of desert critters is relatively unseen, but not undocumented. As a part of the programmatic strategy, a research program was housed in the Centre, focusing on rare or endangered local fauna. 21 The building also implements the use of an unusual wood, the blue-stain pine that is the result of the pine beetle infestation in British Columbia that was perpetuated by climate change. This was a statement against the idea that such kind of materials have been ‘tainted’ and reinforces the use of a unique regional resource. 22 Overall, the project is hailed for its sustainability objectives that are representative of the wishes of the people in the region.

Bruce Haden says it best in acknowledging that “an Indigenous cultural centre designed and constructed with sensitivity to the whole ecosystem of the land on which it is built will be a necessary step in honouring their ancestors.” 23 The sensitivity in the approach to the client, as well as the land, became a pillar in the success of the building.

Malnar, New Architecture, 57.

Ibid., 58.

20 Ibid.

21 Ibid.

22 Tharke, “Earth and Sky,” 29.

23 McGraw, Pieris, Assembling the Centre, 93-94.

18 19

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LACK OF INDIGENOUS PLANNING: A SOLUTION THAT IS NOT GIVEN, BUT INSTEAD CULTIVATED IN PLACE The success of the Nk’Mip Cultural Centre is recognized not only through sustainability, but also by the merits of the planning process. In this section, the idea of indigenous planning will be explored with respect to the positive design of the Centre.

With substantial statistics representing the substandard economic conditions of a large portion of the indigenous population in Canada, a grim portrait is formulated of the state of the reservation. 24 Contrary to the status quo, conditions at the Osoyoos Indian Reserve are considerably different; this is due, in large part, to their Chief. Having been repeatedly elected by the band, Chief Clarence Louie has been focused on economic self-development and reducing startling unemployment rates. 25 A people is only as good as its leader and for the Osoyoos band, theirs is rooted in strong beliefs: “For Chief Louie, economic development and the self-sufficiency it creates is the best way to secure the right of his people to be who they are, to take pride in their heritage and to protect the fragile desert landscape”. 26 The Cultural Centre was one of the bands biggest business ventures, 27 but was dwarfed by a modest beginning consisting of only trails and traditional structures on the site. This was deliberate on Chief Louie’s part: “in order to build a multi-million dollar building, it’s good to go through the initial stage of having a temporary structure, just to prove all the…fundraising makes financial and business sense”. 28 These and other key decisions, such as site selection, made by Louie were instrumental in not only the fruition of the building but also in terms of making crucial planning decisions that aligned with the understanding of community.

One of the most significant gestures made in the planning was to ensure that not only the land, but also the Cultural Centre itself was owned collectively by the Osoyoos band members – the management of which is run by community leaders. 29 Furthermore, the project resulted in a source of employment for band members, local populations, and even members of other bands. 30 Since the OIB has numerous businesses, they were able to fund a substantial portion of the building costs themselves,31 a milestone for a community moving towards self-sufficiency. The architects accommodated this desire by designing multiple buildings from a $10 million model to one that was $214k, eventually settling for the development of the $3.6 million (CAD) building. 32 Overall the community was able to feel true ownership of the project, not just literally, but figuratively in a sense that it was not given but earned. This ideal was also apparent in the planning of the project which again came from their Chief and was not over imposed upon by the architect, or any authoritative figure other than that of the band.

Dana, International Handbook, 338.

Pieris, Indigenous Cultural Centers, 202.

26 Dana, International Handbook, 344.

27 Ibid., 346.

28 Ibid., 347.

29 Ibid., 350; Pieris, Indigenous Cultural Centers, 197-200.

30 Ibid., 200.

31 Janet McGraw and Anoma Pieris, Assembling the Centre: Architecture for Indigenous Cultures: Australia and Beyond (Routledge, 2014), 95.

32 Pieris, Indigenous Cultural Centers, 199.

24 25

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LACK OF IDENTITY: REFRAMING HOW ONE SEES THEMSELVES – RAMMED EARTH AS A MONUMENT TO PLACE Finally, through the built project of the Nk’Mip Cultural Centre, the idea of identity will be explored as it affects the Osoyoos people. The use of rammed earth in this project was arguably an economic burden, but it provided a lot in terms of sustainability, validating decisions and re-inspiring an identity. Rammed earth is a deeply historic building technique that uses earth material that is pneumatically tampered into a compressed form. 33 Brady Dunlop, the project architect, would say, “we, the team, meaning funding agents, contractor, and ourselves, were all quite happy that this was the only material that was appropriate to do everything the wall was intended to do.” 34 Despite that the process is more than twice as expensive and burdensome to construct than concrete, the inherited value of this material surpassed that of the concrete model, with unanimous support from the financial backers. 35 Inspired by the complexity of the land ecology and the longstanding history of the Osoyoos people, Bruce Haden explained the intent of the design: “to find an architectural language that was not directly figural but had to have, firstly, visual longevity [to] reflect the fact that in my view they had been there a long time and were going to be there a long time.” 36 It was the desire of the architects to steer clear of a literal reference to the traditional vernacular, in this case the pit house. 37 Rather, Haden stresses that the design, embedded into the mountain, is “using earth in a manner not unlike the pit house; but the rammed wall, too, uses earth in a manner that is thousands of years old.” 38 In trying to avoid the use of untrue materials typical to the are, such as the use of fake adobe, the material had to be strongly founded and original. 39 The form that the rammed earth material took was a reflection of the nature of the material itself. Rammed earth can be used to create complex textures that inspires fascination. This complexity played a part in the design, according to Haden: “I felt that the landscape had to tell a story—the building had to have a contrast, so the building had to have a very simple formal language with a very complex tonal language. The shapes are simple, the tones are complex.” 40 The wall was constructed with local dirt, removed from the excavation for the building and was also sourced off-site. A 1:10 concrete to earth mix ratio was used as a base for the process. A series of colour additives were added to each layer of the pressed earth. 41 These layers were intended to suggest the qualities in geological strata, this being a metaphor for the long-lasting stewardship of the land by the Osoyoos. 42 The finished wall was left as an exposed surface, without the need for a finishing application. The simplicity of the object after the construction phase is a reflection of honesty of the material of rammed earth. Nothing is hidden, and, by nature, the material is left to integrate into the environment. In its final conception, the massive rammed earth wall was the largest wall construction of its kind in North America. 43 The wall becomes an emblem. It overlooks the its immediate context of the unique landscape and the town of Osoyoos below – mountains in the distance. It arises in the foreground, facing the desert in the middle distance and alluding to the mountains beyond. 44 At once, the wall is protective – safekeeping the cultural value behind its boundary –, but also intriguing due to its materiality. Here, the material and the overall technic used to employ it intrinsically connect it to place, ensuring a monument for centuries to come.

Bruce Haden and Brady Dunlop, “Terra Firma,” Canadian Architect 52, no. 3 (January 2007): 32.

Malnar, New Architecture, 58.

35 Pieris, Indigenous Cultural Centers, 200.

36 Ibid.

37 Malnar, New Architecture, 59.

38 Ibid.

39 Fortmeyer, “In Canada, a Rammed-Earth.”

40 Pieris, Indigenous Cultural Centers, 200.

41 Fortmeyer, “In Canada, a Rammed-Earth.”

42 Malnar, New Architecture, 57.

43 Ibid.

44 McGraw, Pieris, Assembling the Centre, 94.

33 34

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CONCLUSION The Nk’Mip Cultural Centre on the Osoyoos Indian Reserve in British Columbia is a project of many success and serves as an exemplary precedent for client sensitivity, ecological sensitivity, sustainability, indigenous entrepreneurship, architectural identity, materiality, and more. It is important to understand that from a social and cultural sustainability perspective, the planning and decision processes that go into the implementation of a building are just as crucial as the design itself. Without proper planning, the community would not have been behind the project and would thus not want to invest their money into it. Without economic groundwork, there would be no ability to make a project feasible in the first place. The strengths of this project lie not only in the architectural technique, but also in the overall thoughtfulness that was all-encompassing during its the undertaking. Effectively, the issues that often plague design for indigenous communities were addressed: the lack of sensitivity both societal and ecological, the lack of indigenous planning, and finally the issue of expressing identity through architectural design. The conceived building has many positive feedback loops beginning with the environment that will benefit from the Centre’s sustainable approach. The Centre continues to provide employment, which was was a strong basis for its success, only ameliorated by the goal of economic selfsufficiency in the future.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Anderson, Robert B., Leo Paul Dana, and Teresa E. Dana. “Indigenous Land Rights, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Development in Canada: ‘Opting-in’ to the Global Economy.” Journal of World Business 41, no. 1 (February 1, 2006): 45–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2005.10.005.

Bresner, Katie. “Sharing Identity through Indigenous Tourism: Osoyoos Indian Band’s Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Center.”

Anthropologica 56, no. 1 (2014): 135–150. https://muse.jhu.edi/article/544748.

Curry, John, and Han Donker. “An Examination of Corporate Governance Structures of Community-Owned Corporations in British Columbia.” American Journal of Entrepreneurship 2 (January 2009).

Dana, Leo.-Paul. International Handbook of Research on Indigenous Entrepreneurship. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007.

Dorff, John Allan. "First Nation commercial land development, competitive advantage." PhD diss., Faculty of Business Administration-Simon Fraser University, 2005.

Fortmeyer, Russell. “In Canada, a Rammed-Earth Wall for the Ages: A Cultural Center of the Okanagan First Nations People, Osoyoos, B.C.” 196, no. 3 (August 2008).

Haden, Bruce, and Brady Dunlop. “Terra Firma.” Canadian Architect 52, no. 3 (January 2007): 32–33.

Malnar, Joy Monice, and Frank Vodvarka. New Architecture on Indigenous Lands. University of Minnesota Press, 2013.

Janet McGraw and Anoma Pieris, Assembling the Centre: Architecture for Indigenous Cultures: Australia and Beyond (Routledge, 2014).

Pieris, Anoma. Indigenous Cultural Centers and Museums: An Illustrated International Survey. Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.

Robson, Robert. “Rethinking the Community of the Provincial North: Building Communities from the inside Out.” Northern Review, 2014.

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Thakre, Peeroj. “Earth and Sky: A Brilliantly Constructed Building Captures the Essence of the Mystical Desert Landscape and the Culture of the First Nations People of the Okanagan Region.” Canadian Architect 52, no. 3 (2007): 26–30.

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