research, articles, podcasts, and book key notes that dwell into the truth of racist architecture what's inside?
outside in architecture magazine
race & racsim
what is racist architecture? what does it mean to be yourself in architecture?
meet the author
Abigail Arredondo is a graduate student at the University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) who comes from a Mexican immigrant family. Hard work and perseverance were never not a part of her routine. Entering her first year at the Master of Architecture program, with an interest in learning how to build and develop structures that can serve local communities. With her bachelor's in Architecture, she has spent two years developing the idea of architecture that is meant to gear the community that is placed there or the community that has been displaced. With this in mind, “Outside In” will break down how and why communities are displaced and how this breeds into architecture all but while how architecture breeds into the segregation of communities. Thank you for your time and support.
contents
introduction: what is racist architecture?
racist architecture: blacks
racist architecture: hispanic
racist architecture: Native & Indigenous groups
author
what is racist architecture?
When I think about architecture I go to a space that anyone and everyone can experience because of its physical presence in a world we all inhabit. To be an architect is to be considerate in all aspects of analysis, whether that be the site or its users. How does one design move affect a whole sector of communities and the planet, short and long-term? These are key elements of what architecture and a designer should be thinking about. However, racist architecture is the opposite. Racist architecture is now placing barriers and only viewing through one lens and not the big picture. Below you will find several different research, articles, podcasts, and book key notes that dwell into the truth of racist architecture.
Shawhin Roundbari is a founding partner of the Dissent by Design research collective and publishes work in architectural, sociological, and interdisciplinary journals. An associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulders program in Environmental Design.
His thesis involves the studies and teachings of social tribulations. Bridging sociological deconstructions of social movements and race within architectural theory.
Below is a snapshot of his research at CU Boulder, exploring the question, “Can buildings be racist?”
Image courtesy of Adobe Stock Images, photographer Jacob.
“I first became interested in this area because college campuses are a place where young people come during an identity-forming time in their lives. It is important to learn how they perceive the space around them in a place they have to live for multiple years,” explained Shawhin. 1
Right off the bat my impression of why he is placing his research in a location near college students is intelligible. It is a place where young people establish an identity which makes this location intriguing. For college students, it is a time when their environment plays a big role in where they may be 5 to 10 years from now. Like a quote, my parents would say, “show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.”
When considering accessibility cases our minds divert directly to ramps and grab bars for people with disabilities but not race. Architecture design repeatedly mirrors social hierarchies tying them to western colonization and racism.
Western colonization was a start that imposed European styles and erased Indigenous architectural traditions, colonial authorities desired to conceal Indigenous cultures and highlight their identities. Ultimately extracting resources for their own good and disregarding the regional population. Thus, marking their territory through architecture which is known as a tool of immortality, setting the tone for years to come. 2
1 Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine, "Can Buildings Be Racist? CU Boulder Architect Explores," CU Boulder Today, October 9, 2024, https://www.colorado.edu/today/2024/10/09/ can-buildings-be-racist-cu-boulder-architect-explores/.
2 Re-Thinking The Future, "The Impact of Colonialism on Architecture in Former Colonies," https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/architectural-community/a10679-the-impact-of-co-
In an example given by Shawhin, we see Western colonization in the auditorium-style lecture hall where students envelop a professor, illustrating the teacher as the hub of power that is standing in the middle of the room. However, in non-western traditions, learning leans to be more collaborative and decentralized, where people sit around in a circle and share their expertise.
Throughout Shawhin Roundbari's research, some students pointed out that the campus has a primarily white demographic, and people of color stand out in open spaces.
lonialism-on-architecture-in-former-colonies/.
CU Boulders auditorium lecture halls.
Image by BORA
People of color expressed that they feel like they are being watched and perceived on campus, due to the environment providing little refuge for them to be less visible or even hide in this mostly white space. Roundbari points this out in the Norlin Library.
This is seen not just in CU Boulder’s college campus but the idea dwells in many different atmospheres.
Finely cut lawns on U.S. college campuses have cores in our imagination of what privileged schools like Europe look like. In the United States, the designers want to build schools that look like those privileged schools to convey superior status. Though the lovely cut lawns seem like a neutral design element but they can make non-white students feel alienated because these spaces were not designed for them.
A design recourse to a traditional auditorium space should allow faculty
and learners to experiment with diverse forms.
As for open spaces, the designers should place programming that contemplates diverse cultural matters. This means providing resources to underrepresented minority members and organizations on campus so they can be and feel empowered to make these spaces their own.
Image courtesy of Adobe Stock Images, photographer Jen Lobo.
"if black lives matter so should black spaces."
- Charles L. Davis
we will now step into the light of black spaces and how these spaces have been subtracted more and more, worsening conditions for the black youth and future generations to come. Starting with Charles L. Davis II with his work of, “Black Spaces Matter.”
Charles L. Davis is an architectural historian who descends into the junctions of race and identity in the world of Architecture. Concentrating on the racial ideologies that are practiced in architecture and urbanism disciplines. His document, “Black Spaces Matter,” discusses a few outlooks on conceptualized spaces.
One is, that if black lives matter so should black spaces. With this thought, Charles introduces female activist Alicia Garza. When she sparked the world to reimagine the social horizons of black life with “black lives matter” as a result of the injustice of Trayvon Martin in July 2013. 1
Highlighting the battle of establishing value on black lives. Throughout history, the “poor black life” was rated as almost purposeless, and in general the “black life” is cheap. Thus, stapling subjectivity on black bodies.
1 Alicia Garza, "About," https://aliciagarza.com/about/.
A racial ideology that was meant to hold back black communities is the insurance redlining that occurred in the 20th century. Propelling segregation through reinforcing suppositions that black settlement will depreciate your property. These statements came from institutions like the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, which took their time to devalue neighborhoods with black populations labeling them as highrisk for loans.
A map of Philadelphia from the National Archives and Record Administration, exhibits how the racialized guidelines were meant to exclude black residents from any wealth-building possibilities that can be reached from homeownership.
Booker T. Washington Physics class at Tuskegee Institute
None of the less, a strong character that through the odds was able to build a legacy of building up black youth. Booker T. Washington was a slave for his first nine years until his mother took him and his siblings to work at a salt mine. Attending school and working in the mines was Booker's life. Later down the road, Washington was an honors graduate from Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia and began to work as an educator. In 1881 having founded the Tuskegee Institute.
His philosophy was to attain an education while contributing to the campus. “Learn from their hands and heart.” 1
The Institute's curriculum reflected the belief in “character building” that meshed the manual training and academic work to prepare students for selfsufficiency and middle-class respectability.
A statement of pride and liberation, that black spaces could symbolize social progress rather than regress like the urban planning has shown.
Booker T. Washington was a model of character building and social uplift. As students set foot outside the institution they have a great foundation built from hard work and education.
1 Tuskegee University, "Booker T. Washington," https://www.tuskegee.edu/discover-tu/tu-presidents/booker-t-washington/.
Davis then mentions June Jordan, a female artist, poet, and woman of color. She uses her hands to draw connections between everyday black spaces. Employing modern architectural principles within her writing serves as a parallel of an architect’s sketchbook. Not having an architecture license, June Jordan takes an interest and researches how architecture and the built environment are an attachment and articulation of human ecology. 1
An honorable plan for the black race in architecture was with architect R. Buckminster Fuller, June created a plan for the architectural redesign of Harlem
1 "June Jordan," Encyclopaedia Britannica, last modified December 6, 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/June-Jordan.
in New York City. Called “Skyrise for Harlem”, it is an urban design solution to the New York method of metropolitan regeneration.
Bearing the themes of race and place and bringing together the collaborative ideals of Fannie Lou Hamer (A Black feminist activist) and the utopian ideals of Fuller’s architectural beliefs. While also employing Jordan's architectural expertise and metaphor in her written work.
The “Skyrise for Harlem” is a dedication to resisting displacement, where every resident would have a view and residents might look onto the river and dream for a while. 2
My perspective on this is that it is great to instill hope into a community that has been robbed physically and emotionally. The proposals program was ambitious to attempt to provide public housing and not necessarily displace or gentrify the local communities but to serve them. Unfortunately, this proposal did not move forward and it causes me to think how this can negatively impact the black community. From being hopeful to hopeless.
2 Doreen St. Félix, "When June Jordan and Buckminster Fuller Tried to Redesign Harlem," The New Yorker, https://www. newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/when-june-jordan-andbuckminster-fuller-tried-to-redesign-harlem/.
June Jordan
Another one of June Jordan’s works noted in Charles's writing is, “His Own Where.” A book describing the ventures of a young black boy named Buddy, propelled to live on his own after his father is hospitalized by a wandering car. Through Buddy's journey, life prepares him that black spaces can be antagonistic and intolerant toward a black life and not always trusted. 1
about the city in spatial and architectural terms.”
Jordan places the tools of modern architecture within the hands of the 15-year-old boy buddy, “Buddy’s informal education causes him to constantly think
1 June Jordan, His Own Where (New York: Random House, 1971), 96, https://archive.org/details/hisownwhere0000jord_ w9a2/page/96/mode/2up.
Setting him out to learn the massive restructuring of urban infrastructure, educational policy, and other forms of institutional neglect indirectly affecting his and all his neighbors' futures. 2
2 Davis, Charles L., II. “Black Spaces Matter.” Aggregate 3 (2015). https://doi.org/10.53965/XZOU4701.
This collage depicts the essence of Jordan’s architectural principles. Displaying the complexity of black urban spaces in the postwar era through an alternative lens of modernism.
Mitch McEwen
Image by Princeton University
"What does Trayvon's shooting mean for Architects and Urbanists?"
- Mitch McEwen
Mitch McEwen is an architect, educator, and urbanist based in the United States. Combining architecture with matters associated with social justice and community engagement. In the document, “What Does Trayvon's Shooting Mean for Architects and Urbanists?” McEwen raises observations and questions that inform the problematic design decisions that are seen in our day to day. 1
1 McEwen, V. Mitch. “What Does Trayvon's Shooting Mean for Architects and Urbanists?” HuffPost, March 30, 2012. https:// www.huffpost.com/entry/what-does-sanford-florida_b_1392677.
Trayvon Martin, an African American teenager who went walking home from a trip to a convenience store, was fatally shot by George Zimmerman.
George was a neighborhood watch volunteer patrolling the townhouse community of the
Photo by Orlando Sentinel
Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, Florida. 1
Mitch then dives into a collection of topics that cover a spatial understanding of the implications of the Trayvon Martin killing. Ranging from a professional planner, a homeowner building a backyard fence, or a city-dweller eating lunch out in public, we all participate in defining a space. With that being said a predominant and clear way to define a space is through gated communities. Although Architects and planners do not promote gates, they have been everywhere because these are physical reminders of an upper-class life. That the public starts to desire. Consequently, Mitch proposes a 1"Florida Teen Trayvon Martin Is Shot and Killed." History. February 26, 2012. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ florida-teen-trayvon-martin-is-shot-and-killed.
question regarding the division of private property v. public safety, “Do we want to live and work in a world in which a ‘right to be’ in a place equals a right to kill?’"
In occupations of design, we must take control and understand that once borders are coming up a question arises of which users can interact in this space or who are we trying to shield from. These are unconscious questions that arise once barriers like gates, fences, and dividers go up. To design is to design with the intent of interaction and not to instill fear, stressing a need for change in both policy and urban planning.
"Where Are My People? Black in Architecture."
- Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture
Representation is important as much as it is to encourage the blacks that are already in the profession. The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) takes on the task of asking the deep question of why there is not much representation in our profession. Additionally, how those statistics may look and play into the community.
To understand we begin with historical facts. Starting with architecture was designed by and for the white men of an elite social class.
ACSA pulled data from the Bureau of Justice that shows every 33 black men over the age of 18 are serving a prison sentence. On the other side of the coin, for white men in the same age range the ratio is every 1 white man in a group of 251 is serving a prison sentence. With this statistic alone, it is not fathomable to expect to have more black representation in our professions when these numbers show that black males are subject to hyper-policing and policies that put them in prison.
Black women make up 63% of all black students in higher education but only makeup 34% of all black architecture students in all degrees and school types. 1
As I see it, with such little representation, policies, and designs are being managed and established under the perspective of mainly white folk who have had the opportunity to enter into the profession. But with little representation of black people in architecture, the saying “you can't be what you don't see” finds truth. How about the black community that is practicing architecture? What systems or movements are in place to push for black resilience?
The black space manifesto is an agreement that honors the lives of the countless victims of all violence, celebrating black existence while mourning the lost black futures.
1 Kendall A. Nicholson. Where Are My People? Black in Architecture. Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, August 14, 2020. https://www.acsa-arch.org/resource/where-aremy-people-black-in-architecture/.
The BlackSpace Urbanist Collective states, “The ‘justice’ system must change and it does not stop there. No landscape is neutral. Uranists design and plan the built environments where these tragedies occur.” This notion begins to challenge architects, planners, urban designers, artists, and all curators of built spaces to unlearn traditional values and rethink their values. An act to demand a present and future where black people, spaces, and culture matter and thrive. 2
2 BlackSpace Urbanist Collective, "What We Do," https://blackspace.org/what-we-do/.
racist architecture: hispanic & latinx communities
"...the rapidly growing Latinx concentrations or barrios in urban America who have fought long and hard to belong and celebrate their Latinx culture in cities."
- Johana Londoño
Now setting the stage for Hispanic and Latinx communities, how their culture is altered and misconfigured to fit the urban planner's goals for tourism. Ultimately leading to gentrification. Along with hearing from Latina professionals who work in the expertise of Architecture and how they have dealt with racism and representation. Starting with Johana Londoño, “Abstract Barrios: The Cries of Latinx Visibility in Cities.”
What is seen in urban planning and architecture design is taking the Latinx culture and making it into aesthetic features. A few examples covered in the book are, “brightly
colored murals, faux-adobe building designs, and the use of stereotypical motifs like pinatas or sombreros.”
Johana Londoño is an author and scholar widely known for her work in urban studies, architecture, and Latino cultural representation. Being an associate professor in the Department of Latin American at the University at Albany State University of New York. Her research is centered on the junctions of urbanism, race, and Latino identity. Assuming a closer look at how Latinx communities are transformed and represented in the already-built environment. Her book, “Abstract Barrios: The Cries of Latinx Visibility in Cities” indulges into Latino communities and how they are represented in urban planning and architecture in the United States of America.
These elements from her book may seem celebratory but at a deeper level, it is appropriating the Latino culture. Taking the culture and reducing it to those simple elements is then disconnecting from the actualities.
As longtime residents are no longer able to afford homes due to rising rents or redevelopment, gentrification alters the cultural and social program of any space.
The redevelopment in any specific area is often geared towards tourism or a rebranding to favor tourists and pull in a distinct social class of people rather than servicing the already existing communities.
This tactic is used as a political means to help manage the inclusion or exclusion of Latinx communities in any area.
Johana Londoño
Lillian Wald
Chapter 1 : Design for the Puerto Rican Problem
In the 1940s-1950s a wave of Puerto Ricans arrived in the Lower East Side of New York City. Although they were granted citizenship in the US they were perceived and treated like second-class citizens squaring them off in barrios with limited resources.
A notable example of a refuge that took an effort to ditch the sigma of Americanizing immigrants to showcase their culture and celebrate it, was the Henry Street settlement in 1893.
Making the Puerto Ricans feel at home through their design.
Lillian Wald, a 26-year-old nurse, was attending and teaching a homemaking class to a crowd of immigrant women. A young girl charged her begging that Lillian go to see her mother. Her mother was abandoned by a doctor because she could not pay his fee. This led to a radical transformation for Lillian Wald.
After graduating nursing school, Wald moved into a Lower East Side tenement in 1893 starting what she called, “public health nursing” treating illnesses and what has caused them. The start of the Henry Street settlement.
Lillian Wald created a blueprint for action and believed that an organization to serve the public must evolve with the public. Bridging differences and emerging diversity. 1
1 Henry Street Settlement, "Exhibit: The House on Henry Street," https://www.henrystreet.org/about/our-history/exhibitthe-house-on-henry-street/.
Public Health Nursing
Image courtesy of Adobe Stock Images, Vector by Julio.
There was an increase in Latinx populations going into the urban areas but a decrease was seen from the white population moving to the suburbs. This was called white flight.
In this chapter, specifically, the whites were moving to Santa Ana, California in the 1970s to 1980s.
Regarding the growth of the Mexican population that soared after the Mexican Revolution in the 1910s. The urban space in Orange County, California was conservative but as the Mexican
Chapter 3: A Fiesta for White Flight
communities started to populate this county, it began to revive. Via the sight of Mexican culture in stores, restaurants, and in public spaces.
Once white residents started to move back into the urban spaces they began to resume control over these spaces. Threatening the “fiesta” theme into relocating it elsewhere creating blinders to the Latino culture once again.
"What Might a 2016. https://today.uconn.edu/2016/12/what-might-wall-with-mexicolook-like/#.
Wall with Mexico Look Like?" UConn Today. December 8, https://today.uconn.edu/2016/12/what-might-wall-with-mexico-
Final chapter: Colorful Abstraction as Critique
Johana Londoño presented a pink prison wall to, “pull parallels between the urgency of migrants crossing the U.S Mexico border and the Latinx urban belonging.” Finishing the book with, “In many ways, these transnational migrations do not differ greatly from the rapidly growing Latinx concentrations or barrios in urban America who have fought long and hard to belong and celebrate their Latinx culture in cities.” 1
1 Johana Londoño, "Abstract Barrios: The Crises of Latinx Invisibility in Cities," Interventions, The Latinx Project at NYU, https://www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/intervenxions/abstract-barri:-
"A thousand tiny cuts, feeling alone in the room, seeing others advancing while you doubt yourself."
- Vanessa Smith-Torres
Turning to, “Latina Voices in Practice,” the focus shifts to four practicing Latinas in the different architecture departments. 1
Vanessa Smith Torres, an architect born in Puerto Rico is now in Miami, Florida. Vanessa is devoted to building a more equitable profession. She has been a part of award-winning projects from hospitality to education.
1 Practice of Architecture. "088: Latina Voices in Practice." September 15, 2022. https://practiceofarchitecture. com/2022/09/15/088-latina-voices-in-practice/.
She started the podcast by saying, “A thousand tiny cuts, feeling alone in the room, seeing others advancing while you doubt yourself.”
Vanessa attended an architectural state conference in Minnesota. They were honoring everyone who received their architecture license. As Vanessa looked around, she saw only white males being mentioned and credited. She took it upon herself to leave the state of Minnesota for Florida to be surrounded by Latinos, to not feel like an outsider when she knew she could do what everyone could do.
Being in a place like Minnesota, Vanessa felt like “whoever she was, was going to hold her back from her potential.” Moving to Florida to be near the community was key to her story. Unfortunately, lack of representation leads us to believe that we are possibly not in the right place or that we
are not supposed to be there. An empowering statement Vanessa ended her chat with was, “Do not be afraid to knock it down, be the change you want to see.”
Siboney Diaz-Sanchez is an affordable housing advocate and architect who performs as a NOMA empowerment Committee co-chair that organizes with design as a protest planning and policy committee. With a drive for social change and a push for redistribution of systemic power through design. Siboney is committed to prioritizing the
community's voices in the design processes.
Her story starts with an “unusual victimhood in a world that is on fire,” Siboney’s journey was impacted like Vanessa Smith Torres in terms of no representation. In this case, this leads Siboney to contemplate and neglect that her personal story
"An unusual victimhood in a world that is on fire."
- Siboney Diaz-Sanchez
of who she is, is not important to tell because those are not the kind of stories you typically hear at Architectural conventions or ceremonies. However, she overcame this perspective and has made it a goal to make her identity known in the world of architecture. Stating that it all starts with not letting your peers mispronounce your name, she connects this sentence with a quote from Elizabeth Velasquez, “To all girls with heavy names, correct them when they say your name wrong then watch their
tongue stumble over its discomfort as it tries to find its footing on a land it can not steal.” She ends her spiel with, “Be a name that can not be regulated but defined.”
"They wanted to bury us and they didn't know we were seeds."
Alicia Ponce is the founder and principal of a Chicagobased female and Latinaowned architecture firm called APMonarch. With an emphasis and passion for designing healthy buildings that perform great and leave the users feeling good.
In the podcast Alicia makes it known that as designers and architects, we must be considerate of our future generations.
Being Mexican she owns a family and she places that value into architecture saying, “Our responsibility as architects is to
- Alicia Ponce
establish the environment for the generations ahead.”
Her ending statement was a Mexican proverb that goes like this, “ they wanted to bury us and they didn't know we were seeds.”
"Be both the architect that is the advocate and the architect that is the activist."
- Vanessa Alicea-Chuqui
Vanessa Alicea-Chuqui an architect, educator, and advocate, is the founding principal of NYVARCH Architecture which is focused on building community and equity through design.
Throughout her journey similar to Siboney Diaz-Sanchez, Vanessa’s full name would make double takes and she mentioned that her peers and former colleagues would have a hard time wrapping their heads around her last name, “with more ethnic-sounding names
it is harder for them to move forward.” Although this was her day-to-day experience Vanessa pushed forward in correcting mispronunciations. She ended her chat by saying, “Be both the architect that is the advocate and the architect that is the activist.”
"Where Are My People? Hispanic & Latinx in Architecture."
- Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture
With this representation, it is still interesting to take note of how Hispanic and Latinx communities are the largest community of color but they still make up a small percentage of the profession. Going back to the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture to dive deeper into this matter. Starting with historical context.
From 1846-1848 the MexicanAmerican war occurred from the desire of former president James Polk's expansion of the US to span from the East Coast to the West Coast.
This resulted in the expansion of Mexican territory, which extended from modern-day California to modern-day Texas.
Puerto Ricans became part of the US through war.
At the end of the SpanishAmerican war in 1898 when Spain gave up the island to the United States.
Jones Act of 1917 that Puerto Ricans were made citizens but they were not granted the right to vote.
The next two largest populations
of Latinx origins in the United States were welcomed to the southern coast by way of refuge from communism and natural disasters. 1
1 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, "Where Are My People? Hispanic & Latinx in Architecture," https:// www.acsa-arch.org/resource/where-are-my-people-hispanic-latinx-in-architecture/
"What does it mean to be Hispanic or Latinx in architecture?"
Building on the history, the ripples are still felt as A CSA went out to survey groups of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.
"I feel that it is my responsibility to represent my culture through my work and teach the world about Hispanic culture through architecture,"
-Participant #98, a Dominican female
"Being
Latinx in architecture is a privilege, a struggle, lonely, empowering, exciting and a great honor,"
-participant #100, Mexican male
" It means to have the responsibility of representing our community and advocating for more than just yourself in the profession."
-participant #62, Venezuelan female
" Never quite fitting in, always working to absorb broader hegemonic histories (European) with little attention paid to our own legacies and personal experiences."
-Participant #59, Mexican male
racist architecture: native & indigenous communities
"Spoken narrative of history, culture, and the environment is a mode of communication amongst Indigenous people."
tradition, spirituality, communication and education
- Juliet Pino
With this we can infer like the first community we dove into, the Hispanic and Latinx groups have a sense of trauma of feeling misplaced in an environment. Leading to the next racial group, Native and Indigenous communities. Exploring how native culture should be shown in design and how Indigenous architects and activists are using design to restore their culture.
Beginning with a blog called, “Native Culture Reflected Through Architectural Design.”
Author Juliet Pino is an intern architect at Studio SW. Her native culture has influenced her to pursue architecture and find a harmony between culture and modern design. While cherishing the environment and adhering to cultural representation in each project.
Juliet dives into the understanding of how design should start for the people. From long ago before the unfortunate events of colonization, the native people's culture and their respect for the land informed their architectural design. They were the first architects.
With her being a native American Pueblo woman a few common
themes arose when talking about the native community, languages, customs, beliefs, art, and natural resources. The most common was spiritual beliefs being the foundation of native architectural design approaches. Along with asking for the designers to create a mixed design that would symbolize their culture and their traditional building forms but with contemporary building practices and technologies that reflect their modern lifestyle. “Timeless architecture can be achieved through a merge of historic representation and modern-day innovations.”
A question that Juliet poses is, “How can we, as architects and designers, express tribal identity through designs led by indigenous spiritual and mythological anecdotes?”
Her answer is to understand the Indigenous people. In her studio, they work with three tribes, Apache, Navajo, and Pueblo. All with different cultures, traditions, languages, and ancestral dwellings. From these differences, Juliet and other architects must work to engage the community in discussion during the design process and to learn the tribal values and traditions.
Oral tradition has helped to preserve many native cultures for many centuries. The stories aid in helping to comprehend the culture and to execute the design, “Spoken narrative of history, culture, tradition, spirituality, and the environment is a mode of communication and education amongst Indigenous people.”
Any design decision should be discussed with the tribal leaders and elders to ensure respect for the sensitivity of cultural practices.
“It is important to understand and recognize the distinction of all tribal cultures and traditions, since a utilization of motifs and symbols may be an inappropriate design approach that varies from tribe to tribe.”
In design, it is important to also integrate their beliefs. The Indigenous people are interconnected to all living things because they recognize their existence in the natural world. “The environment, plants, and animals play a key role in the Indigenous lifestyle because of the bestowed resources that influence their cultural connection to nature and land,” states Juliet.
As you are gathering research of the site for the project it is most appropriate to gather the context of the natural environment.
“The physical characteristics of Indigenous architecture must imply the story of cultural preservation, historic attributes, and thor cosmic and mythical references.”
An example of this is the circle, which is adopted in many Indigenous cultures representing the interconnectivity of life's matters.
As the world advances in innovative technology, building material, constructability, and sustainability, possibly leaving behind the native american design.
Instead, Juliet argues that the Native American communities can remain true to their culture and traditions in terms of design all but while thinking outside of the traditional building materials used like adobe and vigas. To show the evolution of the native communities.
“The exploration of contemporary materiality and form should highlight the culture, spirituality, and the relationship to the natural world.”
One way to do this Juliet points out the use of the sun, “A small step has reemphasized the importance
of the sun not only culturally, but through use of sustainable building tools, such as passive solar design and photovoltaic solar technologies.”
All in all Juliet and the few native american architects focus on designing for the indigenous people who not only inhabited the land but to those who have progressed through the ages and continue to transform their culture in a modern era. 1
1 Studio SW, "Culture Reflected Through Architectural Design," November 26, 2019, https://www.studioswarch.com/2019/11/26/ culture-reflected-through-architectural-design/.
Juliet Pon
" Across housing solutions and improved education pipelines, Indigenous leaders in design, art, and activism are refusing to accept colonial erasure."
-Abigail Glasgow
Indian Community School in Franklin, Wisconsin
Moving onto how Indigenous architects, artists, and activists are using design to restore tribal sovereignty. Author Abigail Glasgow is a Brooklyn-based journalist who primarily covers the intersection of the criminal legal system through art/design. Abigail is a freelance reporter and her work has been published in Architectural Digest, vogue, and more. 1
She starts by diving into the architecture firm, Studio: Indigenous. Chirs Cornelius is the founder and their mission is to explore how to incorporate indigenous presence into architecture. Stating, “When we leave out design, we leave out culture and environmental responsibility.”
Abigail highlights Cornelius' work through the educational standpoint with the Indian Community School in Franklin, Wisconsin. They were tasked to create a space meant for learning. Ultimately combating a history where “education was used as a tool of colonization and assimilation.”
As Cornelius and his team started with this project it became a reflection when the United States would force the Indigenous students to cut their hair, change their names, and replace their religion and language. With this in mind, Cornelius removed and replaced all institutional names for spaces to better reflect the indigenous principles. “It's not a
1 Architectural Digest, "Abigail Glasgow," https://www.architecturaldigest.com/contributor/abigail-glasgow/.
cafeteria, it's Feast; it's not called a lobby, it's called Community; instead of a theater, it's Drum.”
It was a step into reclaiming spaces and programs that were part of the Indigenous communities day to day. That a highly functional political and economic system, plentiful land stewardship, and a culture that values relationship and community. To show that those aspects and characteristics are here to stay. 2
2 Abigail Glasgow, "How Indigenous Architects, Activists, and Artists Are Restoring Tribal Sovereignty," Architectural Digest, October 10, 2022, https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/ indigenous-architects-activists-artists-restoring-tribal-sovereignty/
A few other designs from Studio: Indigenous is Ukwé·tase (stranger) in Chicago, Illinois that was completed in 2023.
Ukwé·tase is in the Oneida language signifying strangers. Compelling the narrative and idea that the designer is physically laboring on the land that is not their own. Pushing a statement that we are all strangers somewhere.
“This piece is an alternative land acknowledgment in that the designer, while indigenous, is a stranger in the land now known as Chicago.”
Intended to be a structure
that causes reflection on the indigenous land the users are on. With a structure within a structure. Similar to how the designer is a citizen of a nation within a nation. 1
1 Studio: Indigenous, "Ukwe Tase: Stranger," https://www.studioindigenous.com/ukwe-tase-stranger/.
Not my HUD house in Bentonville, Arkansas, and was completed in 2022.
Studio: Indigenous grew up on a Oneida Indian reservation in Wisconsin, with their home being designed and built by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This was common for Indigenous people; they were forcibly extracted and relocated to reservations. “HUD homes have been an instrument of colonization by removing the option of choice, and failing to support the educational, economic, and cultural advancement of Indigenous people.”
This project was to particularly call attention to the deficiencies of
HUD housing and how they can be improved for Indigenous people.
Here is a list of things the HUD home did not have a porch, garage, place for fire, a view of the sky, good connection to the earth, a place to study/read/draw, a good way to get water off the roof, any regard for the sun/moon, space for non-human relatives, and culture. 1
1 Studio: Indigenous, "Not My HUD House," https://www.studioindigenous.com/not-my-hud-house/.
Otaeciah (crane) is in Appleton, Wisconsin, completed in 2021. This is a permanent structure that sits at the Lawrence University campus in Wisconsin. The university wanted to acknowledge how their campus lies on Menominee land.
The Menominee are indigenous to the eastern half of Wisconsin.
Studio: Indigenous wanted to make that part of the larger awareness of the university's community. They worked closely with the Indigenous student group on campus to mesh ideas into the work. Stating, “Education was used as a tool of colonization and intended to erase culture from the people Indigenous to this land,” and “Indigenous students don't often see themselves reflected
in the university setting, either in the faculty, fellow students, or environment.” Through this installation, the Indigenous students can physically see their culture on campus. Allowing them to use this space to gather, demonstrate, and celebrate. 1
What makes these installations and structures effective to the Indigenous community is their appeal on how to initiate the project, creating an identity, and lastly involvement.
1 Studio: Indigenous, "Otāciaéh," https://www.studioindigenous. com/otaciaeh/.
Let's dive into what are the types of characteristics that make up a successful design within the Indigenous communities.
The, “Four Principles of Designing with Indigenous Communities,” by Collin Abdallah is a recent graduate student from the University of Oklahoma College of Architecture and is currently working and living in Austin, Texas. Here he goes over four principles for designing with the Indigenous community.
Royal Architectural Inspirations of Canada released a resource that is directed toward designers, clients, funders, and policymakers who are on the lookout for a guide in Indigenous co-design.
First principle: Initiation
The first principle is initiation, asking the question of what needs to be addressed. “For example, the parties involved in the Squamish Lil'Wat Cultural Center started with a vision for a tourism hub, celebrating the heritage of the two First Nations. After a period of bi-partisan leadership, the partners used the 2002 bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics as a catalyst to create an agreement for a joint Squamish and Lil'Wat cultural center. After Vancouver won the bid in 2003, the financial backing allowed the First Nations to push the project forward.”
Another example of this process is the Quilakwa Centre project vs the Cultural Center project. You start to see how the Quilakwa Centre emphasizes the importance of the
expression of culture from the very beginning of the project, no matter the scale. “This ultimately gives agency back to Indigenous people and promotes their aspirations."
Squamish Lil'Wat Cultural Center
Second principle: Identity
The next principle is forming an identity. This is seen as the materiality or structure components that make up the building to fit the identity of the Indigenous tribes. “Indigenous respondents underlined the importance of architects who ‘listen well to the community vision and engage in an ongoing dialogue.’” By anchoring the building's structure to its natural surroundings with the addition of traditional materials. Along with prioritizing energy conservation through design, utilizing natural heating, cooling, and air circulation systems.
An example is in Nunavik Quebec, Canada, where the traditional costumes of life are important to their cultural identity and their
overall well-being.
There was an Inuit housing project that was a success because it relied heavily on the ability of all parties to convey the culture and values of the Indigenous people effectively and appropriately as well as to incorporate innovative design elements.
Third principle: Involvement
The third principle is involvement. It is crucial in making the design process a hands-on approach. “Project management and the majority of the construction was done by indigenous-owned entities employing local Indigenous tradespeople.”
Fourth principle: Impact
From these principles, the impacts are felt and physically seen as the concept of identity for specific Indigenous groups is respected and taken the time to understand their needs. “Creating buildings that resonate with the community and will be of lasting value encapsulates all of the other best practices previously mentioned.” 1
1 Collin Abdallah, "4 Principles of Designing with Indigenous
Communities," ArchDaily, July 30, 2018, https://www.archdaily. com/898409/4-principles-of-designing-with-indigenous-communities/.
"Where Are My People? Native &
Indigenous in Architecture."
-
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture
Similar to the groups above, Native Americans do not have much representation in the field of architecture. Taking the research of the Association of Collegiate Schools is crucial to understand because it is the reflection of how and why Native people navigate the built world.
Taking a look into education, Indigenous people with a 4-year degree or higher is 16.1% of the national average of 33.1%. This is the ripples that are still felt from the United States removing and placing the native people in “Indian boarding schools.”
According to the ACSA, “...the brutal treatment of Native peoples during the founding of the United States still manifests today. The rate at which Native peoples
experience violent crimes is 2.5 times higher than the rate for other racial groups.” 1
1 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, "Where Are My People? Native & Indigenous in Architecture," https://www. acsa-arch.org/resource/where-are-my-people-native-indigenous-in-architecture/.
What does it mean to be Indigenous in
The Association of Collegiate Schools performed a questionnaire to a few indigenous members.
architecture?
"We are the keepers of the land on which we all buildwhat we build should respect that we belong to the land and not the other way around."
-Indigenous participant #6
"It means advocating for indigenous peoples' voices to be heard in design. It means educating non-indigenous architects, clients, and colleagues and constantly fighting stereotypes"
-Indigenous participant #9
" It means to learn from our ancestors and how they created shelter, civilizations, and communities from what nature provided and designed with the seasons."
- Indigenous participant #36
"For the Indigenous person, it means walking in two worlds, it also means having to educate the nonindigenous others along their way on Indigenous lands."
-Indigenous participant #10
One area that is significant to the Indigenous community but insignificant in architecture.
"Respecting the boundary between celebrating and protecting cultural identity and knowledge in design."
-Indigenous participant #39
" A higher focus on the community or the collective and planning for the seven generations."
-Indigenous participant #19
"Honoring of the location in which a building will be placed."
-Indigenous participant #29
"Designing places and spaces with relationality always in mind - relations with the humans, animals, plants, and earth in mind."
-Indigenous participant #37
"Site /cultural specific vernacular. Indigenous people in our country are as varied as the places that they inhabit."
-Indigenous participant #23
" The power of where indigenous people come from is important. It's part of the earth and can not be embodied in built forms, but it can be respected."
-Indigenous participant #28
One thing “architecture “ can give to Indigenous people.
"More recognition and acknowledgment of Indigenous architecture in books and educational platforms, such as educational classes and projects that highlight Indigenous architecture."
-Indigenous participant #36
" I would ask the discipline of architecture to educate and inform future and present practitioners that architecture is not meant to be a model of reconciliation."
-Indigenous participant #10
"Autonomy to rebuild their communities outside of the control of colonial systems."
-Indigenous participant #17
" More opportunities for native american architects to express their culture and heritage through architecture and interior design."
-Indigenous participant #19
"It would be to use architecture to express the ideals of Indigenous people and to take the time needed to develop design solutions that embody Indigenous people and customs."
-Indigenous participant #28
author takeaways
Throughout this spread of cultural and social values from the 3 specific groups, racist architecture is prominent due to our history of colonization and the former designers finding ways of control in the United States. Benefiting the white settlers and neglecting the communities that were the nation's first architects like the native americans. At the same time regulating the black and Hispanic/Latinx communities through making spaces that are not meant for them, sticking out like a sore thumb. During this research, it becomes coherent that architects and designers are predominately white males and that oftentimes the designs and spaces are for white enjoyment. With that being said, it is hopeful to see that although the architecture is predominantly white, there are communities like black, Hispanic/Latino, and native/Indigenous people that use that as their motivation to see themselves in this profession and serve as an inspiration to
future generations. Coming from a Mexican household, I am a first generation for everything, and growing up in Denver Colorado, my elementary school in Lakewood would encourage the entire school through the morning announcements ending their spill with, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” This was encouraging and as I moved up to high school entering college it started to become difficult to believe that. Being a first-generation I was not sure what my journey would look like because I had no guidance or examples. To this day, this remains the same but like the above communities, I now use that fear as my guiding light because I know it will result in growth. To be the example I did not have growing up and a resource to all in my Mexican community. The only solution to the racist architecture is to be the change we want to see and that will get done through collaboration, challenging stereotypes, and revising policies.