Native Peoples Design Coalition

Native peoples design coalition (npdc)

 

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The Native Peoples Design Coalition forms a collective vision to plan and design the built environment in ways that support Native American and Indigenous Sovereignty.

Our design pedagogy is founded in attentive listening and respectful engagement, honoring Native American and Indigenous culture, land, people, and communities.
 

What We Do

Graduate culturally adept and literate future design professionals prepared to work with diverse clients and communities.

Increase Native American and Indigenous student representation, retention and graduation rates across CAPLAs degree programs.       

Work with Native American and Indigenous communities to plan and design the built environment in ways that respect and honor Indigenous culture, people and the places they inhabit.

Inform design with research that conserves resources, restores land and builds local capacity.

Support Native American Sovereignty to control their resources and decision-making processes.

 Our Tools for Change

  • community-based participatory design
  • needs assessment
  • masterplanning
  • programming
  • conceptual design
  • exhibits
  • curricular support
  • student professional mentorship

Our Practices

  • Through studio courses, electives and paid internships, we engage our students in community-driven participatory design. Students are taught how to plan and design through the understanding of client needs and goals and learn how to ideate solutions that grow directly from the outcomes of this process.
  • We work throughout the college to embed in the curriculum and culture acknowledgment of the vital contributions made by Native American and Indigenous Peoples in design and planning and build on practices of sustainability, authenticity and meaning in the built environment.
  • We host the Tucson chapter of the Indigenous Society of Architects, Planners and Designers (ISAPD), a national Native student-led organization and professional network.
  • Native American and Indigenous community members counsel us and inform our work, with the goals of achieving integrity in our process and direct Tribal benefit from our outcomes.
  • We utilize the vast knowledge and resources across the university and within our professional network to enhance planning and design projects to improve the lives of our Native and Indigenous students, their families, and their communities.
Ganado High School

Ganado High School

Mochik Ranch

Mochik Ranch

UANAI Center

UANAI Center

State and Local Awards

  • 2021 Grassroots Teaching Innovation Grant | College of Architecture Planning and Landscape Architecture

  • 2022 AIA Community Design Award (blind peer reviewed)
    American Institute of Architects (AIA) | Arizona State Chapter

     
  • 2023 Provost Investment Fund Award | University of Arizona
     
  • 2023 AIA Community Design Award (blind peer reviewed)
    American Institute of Architects (AIA) | Arizona State Chapter