"Constructing Tribal Architectures in Native American Communities"

November 3rd
Anne Marshall - Architecture & Interior Design

Abstract: Native American communities aiming to construct tribal architectures face a variety of challenges. Some are related to underlying issues of discourse and scholarship. Scholars have written very little critical literature about 20th- and 21st-century Native American architecture. Architectural education is based on a European model and rarely includes Native American architecture. These conditions result in additional issues related to practice. Very few Native American people practice within the profession of architecture. As a result, most design professionals are non-Native. Because these architects have fundamentally different worldviews and styles of communication, cross-cultural communication is often a challenge for both architects and clients. Authority on architecture for tribal communities can be ambiguous. Other issues include administrative barriers and the challenges of creating meaningful tribally-specific architectures when there is no system of translating historical built forms into contemporary architecture.