News

February 2024

FIRST FUTURE PROJECT: MODEL MAKING COMPETITION

Enter the Competition Here

The First Future Project (FFP) celebrates and expands on Indigenous architectural principles firmly rooted in the tracking of natural phenomena and celestial events. Indigenous peoples around the world have been celebrating the solstice and equinox in a variety of ways since time immemorial to connect themselves with the seasonal cycles and acknowledge change. The intention of the year-long ISAPD project is to reawaken the relationship between people and natural cycles. Concluding in Spring 2024, the First Future Project aims to ignite an interest in reciprocal design informed by the first indigenous people and future indigenous people.

We invite the ISAPD community to share your creativity in a model-making process that includes themes related to first future ideas and celestial events. Competitors may submit Individual or Team entries. Winners will be selected in two categories: Best Individual Entry and Best Team Entry. Each winning entry will be awarded $250 and featured on the Indigenous Society of Architecture, Planning, and Design (ISAPD) digital exhibition page: https://isapd.org/.

How to Enter:

Competitors are encouraged to be creative in the First Future Project model-making process. Find out more information through the submission form linked here: https://forms.gle/5ZSExKgtCHsHvwjn7

Winners Selection and Announcement:

Winners will be selected in two categories: Best Individual Entry and Best Team Entry. Each winning entry will be awarded $250. The winners will be announced March 16, 2024 and featured on the Indigenous Society of Architecture, Planning, and Design (ISAPD) digital exhibition page: https://isapd.org/. ISAPD reserves the right to re-categorize and to create new categories if appropriate.  


September 2023

ARCHTOBER PROGRAM SERIES: 

ALIGNMENTS OF THE INDIGENOUS DESIGN PROCESS

See EVENTS for Further Information

This program is part of the Alignments in the Indigenous Design Process series, developed in collaboration with the Center for Architecture + Archtober. Since time immemorial, Indigenous peoples were among the first architects of our built environment to design structures synchronized with nature and seasonal changes, aligned with the cosmos, and honoring our holistic relationship with a larger system. This series will present processes and projects with an array of alignments with natural and artificial elements that are woven into Indigenous spatial design methodologies.

Part I: Nonhuman Futures

Suzanne Kite is a performance artist, visual artist, and composer. In this lecture, she will be talking about spatial relationships between human and non-human entities in her installation and design work.

Speaker: Suzanne Kite

About the Speaker: Suzanne Kite holds an MFA in Music and Sound from the Milton Avery Graduate School of Fine Arts at Bard College, and is currently completing their PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies at Concordia University, with a focus on Lakȟóta ontology (the study of beinghood in Lakȟóta philosophy), Artificial Intelligence (a theoretical and practical field that uses computation techniques such as Machine Learning) and contemporary art.

When: Tuesday, October 3, 1pm EST

Click Here to Register

Part II: An Otomí Leader and an Architecture of Indigenous Reclamation

Tracing the story of a young leader of the Otomí resistance against the neoliberal state in Mexico City, this lecture focuses on the Indigenous appropriation of a building previously used by an assimilationist arm of the Mexican government. Since the 2020 rebellious takeover, the building has been transformed by the Otomíes into a house for the Indigenous peoples of all Mexico. A broader aim of this presentation is to contend for the need to register spaces of resistance such as this one, which demands that architectural history develop analytical tools beyond its traditional reading of form and language. The historical relevance of these subversive spaces manifests in the more particular aim of this talk, which is to show the significance of an architecture of resistance in the empowerment of a young Indigenous woman, whose activism awoke when she saw her community occupy and transform the building. Her leadership in the struggle against the legacies of colonialism was built in parallel with the agency of her people both to claim spaces for Indigenous communities in the country's capital and to reshape an architecture that would disseminate the message of Indigenous resistance throughout Mexico.

Speaker: Tania Gutiérrez-Monroy, Assistant Professor, School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of British Columbia

About the Speaker: Tania Gutiérrez-Monroy is an assistant professor at the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture in the University of British Columbia. She studies architecture as a material and signifying practice that spatializes colonial and patriarchal forces as well as resistance mechanisms. Her research focuses on the ways in which different categories of identity intersect, are negotiated in, and transform space. Thematically, her work spans: historical examples of ephemeral and practised architectures, race and gender in spaces of conflict, and landscapes of Indigenous resistance. Prior to joining UBC, Tania was an assistant professor of architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee after being the 2021-2022 Emerging Scholar Fellow at the G. Hines College of Architecture and Design at the University of Houston. She holds a Ph.D. and an M.Sc. from McGill University and was trained as an architect at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. She has also taught architectural history, theory, design, and research methods at the University of Houston, the University of British Columbia, Louisiana State University, and Université Laval.

When: Tuesday, October 17, 1pm EST

Click Here to Register


Part III: Indigenous Architecture Days: To Leave and Return

The Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School was a federal institution that operated from 1893 to 1934 on treaty lands of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan. Between 2011 and 2013, part of the site was conveyed to the Tribe, along with seven historic school buildings. Over the past decade, community members have worked diligently to map out a new, hopeful future for a place that is marked by a complicated and tragic past. Slow Built Studio has worked pro bono for the Tribe for the past three years to develop a plan for a living memorial and new uses for the site, incorporating Anishinaabe cultural and material practices. This lecture will provide historical background and describe the community-based design work that has gone into the site’s planned transformation back into a space for indigenous life, art and language.

Speaker: Christian Hart Nakarado, Assistant Professor of Art, Wesleyan University; Founder, Slow Built Studio

About the Speaker: Christian is an Assistant Professor of Art at Wesleyan University and the founder of Slow Built Studio, a design, research, and architecture practice based in New Haven, Connecticut. His teaching and research both focus on impermanence in design and indigenous precedents for non-extractive making. He has spent 18 years working in practices on the east and west coasts of the United States, as well as in Canada and England. He is a licensed architect in New York, California, and Michigan, and is a member of the American Institute of Architects and the American Indian Council of Architects and Engineers. He is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

When: Wednesday, October 25, 7pm EST
Where:  Davies Toews Architecture 209 Avenue A New York, NY 10009 

Click Here to Register


August 2023

SAVE THE DATE FOR INDIGENOUS ARCHITECTURE DAYS IN NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Join us for a week-long celebration of Indigenous architecture, planning, and design at Davies Toews Architecture presented by the Indigenous Society of Architecture, Planning, and Design (ISAPD) and partners. The intention of Indigenous Architecture Days is to inspire future generations, support current Indigenous designers, and gather together with professional, academic, and the greater creative community to celebrate nature-informed and experimental Indigenous architecture in the city.

See EVENTS for Further Information 






SAVE THE DATE FOR INDIGENOUS ARCHITECTURE DAYS IN ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO

Join us for a two day celebration of Indigenous architecture, planning, and design at the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center presented by the Indigenous Society of Architecture, Planning, and Design (ISAPD) and partners. The intention of Indigenous Architecture Days is to inspire future generations, support current Indigenous designers, and gather together with professional, academic, and the greater community to celebrate nature-informed Indigenous architecture.


See EVENTS for Further Information







June 2023

ISAPD RELEASES CALL FOR INDIGENOUS VISIONARIES

As part of the First Future Project, supported by the Fulcrum Fund, ISAPD is seeking contributions from Indigenous visionaries. 

How do you celebrate the Fall Equinox? Does your community observe this day through harvesting or dancing? How do you mark the seasonal change? Do you have traditions involving crops or your dwellings? Do your relatives and community share stories? 

Submit written, visual, or audial narratives (i.e. stories, photographs, maps, drawings, recordings) below:

https://forms.gle/vc7dsBNsmFskMoUR7

Submissions are due by August 31, 2023. Contributions will be exhibited and credited at the First Future Festival to be hosted this coming Fall 2023.



May 2023

ISAPD LAUNCHES THE STEPPING STONE: A GUIDE TO
SCHOLARSHIPS + FELLOWSHIPS + GRANTS

This is a simple guide to provide scholars who are Indigenous and in the architecture, planning, design, landscape architecture, environmental design, interior design, and construction fields, with information on scholarships and fellowships applicable to them.

The guide consists of larger databases with an extensive amount of scholarships and fellowships available and single scholarship and fellowship opportunities listed.

Guide Sections: Indigenous Focused, Architecture, Architecture: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Architecture: Research Projects, Architecture: School Specific, Architecture: Place Based, Landscape Architecture, Planning and Urbanism, Environmental Design. 

Check it out under “Resources”. It is encouraged to check back periodically as more opportunities and information will be added to the list on a regular basis.

Do you want to contribute toward The Stepping Stone?
Email us at admin@isapd.org.








March 31 2023

ISAPD RETURNS TO YALE FOR INDIGENOUS PRESENCE IN ARCHITECTURE WORKSHOP

Indigenous Society of Architecture, Planning, and Design (ISAPD)  X Yale Haas Arts Library X Yale School of Architecture

When: March 31, 2023, 1:00pm - 2:30pm
Where: Rudolph Hall, Room 322
 



March 15 2023

ISAPD AWARDED A 2023 FULCRUM FUND GRANT

Indigenous Society of Architecture, Planning, and Design (ISAPD) // First Future Project // Albuquerque

The jurors awarded a total of $90,000 in grants ranging from $4,000 - $10,000 to 11 artists and collectives throughout New Mexico. We received a total of 118 submissions from 29 cities, towns and pueblos across the state. Read more about the projects.

Now in its eighth year, the Fulcrum Fund is an annual grant program created and administered by 516 ARTS as a partner in the Regional Regranting Program of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, with additional support from the Frederick Hammersley Fund for the Arts at the Albuquerque Community Foundation. The Fulcrum Fund serves as an essential support structure to enable artists to expand existing work and explore new directions in creating and showcasing projects that inspire curiosity, engagement, and dialogue. It is intended to be a springboard for artistic processes that are experimental and forward thinking, while celebrating projects that may not fit into the traditional museum and gallery systems.

This year’s guest jurors were Michelle Grabner, artist, curator, writer, and Professor of Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and America Meredith (Cherokee Nation), publishing editor of First American Art Magazine, art writer, critic, visual artist, and independent curator. We received 118 submissions from 29 cities, towns and pueblos throughout New Mexico.

First Future Project encompasses a range of programming sustaining the endeavors of the Indigenous Society of Architecture, Planning, and Design (ISAPD) collective and celebrates and expands on Indigenous architectural principles firmly rooted in the tracking of natural phenomena and celestial events, specifically the fall equinox. Programming includes a built installation, community art contribution, maps and drawings, a public festival, a design competition, and an on-line community book. ISAPD members Miriam Diddy and Anjelica S. Gallegos will lead the year long project starting in the spring of 2023. 

Community and collective thinking are important tenets within Indigenous ideology and the foundation for this project. The first phase of their work will involve an open call to the Indigenous communities to share their thoughts, stories, photographs, or objects about the fall equinox and themes related to the seasonal change. The public input gathered will be incorported into the project design.

Check back on our website for future updates on this exciting project!


October 2022

Celebrating Archtober with the Center For Architecture

IN THE REALM OF INDIGENOUS ARCHITECTURE

Join us for the ‘In the Realm of Indigenous Architectures’ series, developed in collaboration with the Center for Architecture. In the Realm of Indigenous Architectures presents built projects, architectural tools, and historical policy illustrating the preservation of culture and transformation of Indigenous communities in the United States today.

October 4, 2022

IN THE REALM OF INDIGENOUS ARCHITECTURE
Part I
Architectural Tools and Technology for Tribal Communities

Click Here to Register

Miriam Diddy (Hopi, Navajo) is a planner and GIS specialist and has worked on planning, mapping, and community engagement efforts for several tribes across the Southwest. While at AOS Architects, Diddy was the lead designer coding and building the award-winning Zuni Housing Authority mobile app, which collects housing and demographics data on nearly 2,000 homes at Zuni Pueblo. Diddy will highlight the importance of architectural tools and technology for tribal communities and share her experience developing the app and its potential expansive use for other departments or tribes in the future.

Speaker:
Miriam Diddy (Hopi + Navajo), AICAE, Planner, MRWM

About the Speaker:
Miriam Diddy is a planner and GIS specialist. She has a BA in environmental planning and design from UNM. Diddy has assisted on planning and building assessment/inventory efforts for several tribal clients, including the Pueblos of Zuni, Laguna, Cochiti, Santo Domingo, and San Ildefonso. As part of these efforts, she has developed a mobile phone app geared towards the assessment of historic structures in traditional tribal communities that has been customized for multiple clients to streamline data collection and reinforce data sovereignty in Indian Country. Born and raised in New Mexico, Diddy is a member of the Navajo Nation (Diné) with additional Hopi and Ukrainian heritage. She currently volunteers for several non-profits including as Secretary for the American Indian Council of Architects and Engineers (AICAE) and as a Steering Committee Member for the Tribal + Indigenous Planning Division of the American Planning Association (APA). She also serves as Board Member for Creative Startups, a non-profit with the mission of helping individuals successfully launch creative businesses and entrepreneurs that help drive the creative economy.

October 11, 2022

IN THE REALM OF INDIGENOUS ARCHITECTURE
Part II
The Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative

Click Here to Register

In June 2021, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, a comprehensive effort to recognize the troubled legacy of federal Indian boarding school policies, with the goal of addressing their intergenerational impact and to shed light on the traumas of the past. The federal Indian boarding school policies introduced a new architecture and program to American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities in the 19th and 20th centuries. In this program, Joaquin Gallegos (Jicarilla Apache, Santa Ana Pueblo), Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs at the US Department of Interior, will summarize the findings of this extensive and first-ever inventory of federally operated Indian boarding schools.  
Speaker:
Joaquin Gallegos (Jicarilla Apache + Santa Ana Pueblo), Special Assistant to Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, US Department of Interior

October 18, 2022

IN THE REALM OF INDIGENOUS ARCHITECTURE
Part III
The Albuquerque Indian Boarding School

Click Here to Register

Following on last week's talk on Federal Indian Boarding School, Dr. Ted Jojola (Isleta Pueblo), will present the story of an anomaly Indian Boarding School: the Albuquerque Indian School (AIS). Jojola will examine how the AIS students' tribal communities were able to exercise their agency, influencing everything from classroom curriculum to school functions. AIS serves as an example of how communities ultimately mitigated the schools' assimilation efforts and assured the cultural, social, and economic survival of their people.

Speaker:
Ted Jojola (Isleta Pueblo), Director, Indigenous Design and Planning Institute, and Distinguished + Regents' Professor, University of New Mexico

October 25, 2022

IN THE REALM OF INDIGENOUS ARCHITECTURE
Part IIII
Affordable Housing and Community at Siler Yard

Click Here to Register

Garron Yepa (Navajo, Jemez Pueblo) was born and raised in New Mexico and brings his cultural and regional knowledge to every architectural project as a designer and project manager. Yepa will share information and key insights on the Wa-Di Housing Development for Santo Domingo Pueblo and the Owe’neh Bupingeh Preservation Project for Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. Yepa will further discuss how these tribal projects informed Siler Yard: Arts+Creativity Center of Santa Fe, the first net-zero energy, 100% electric utilities multi-family project in New Mexico.

Speaker:
Garron Yepa (Navajo + Jemez Pueblo), AOS Architects

About the Speaker:
Garron Yepa was born and raised in New Mexico and brings his cultural and regional knowledge to every architectural project. As the son of a Navajo (Dine) mother, and a Jemez Pueblo (Towa) father Garron has a unique perspective on architecture and design. Being a fluent Towa speaker has given him insight into another way of describing the world around him. He has continued his learning with extended stays in New Hampshire, Alaska, and New York City - always returning home to restore his grounding in his communities.

Garron Yepa (Navajo + Jemez Pueblo), AOS Architects