The conventional professions of architecture and planning portray modernist and colonial ways of thinking. Just consider the concept of land ownership: Land is divided into parcels that can be bought and sold over and over. Land is seen asa commodity for transaction. We build our cities and buildings by drawing straight, hard lines with calculated angles. After everything is mapped out on a piece of paper, construction occurs. This normalized way of working reflects a dominant western worldview.
But there are many other ways to design buildings and create communities. And our westernized forms of design, planning and architecture almost always leave out the voices ofIndigenous people. In this episode John chats with David Fortin. David is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario and member of the RAIC Indigenous Task Force that seeks ways to foster and promote Indigenous design in Canada, and the first Indigenous person to direct a school of architecture in Canada.
Resources:
Our Voices:Indigeneity and Architecture
The Handbook ofContemporary Indigenous Architecture
New Architecture onIndigenous Lands
In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge that we are on the traditional territories of the people of the Treaty 7 region, which includes the Blackfoot Confederacy (comprised of the Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai First Nations), the Tsuut’ina First Nation, and the Stoney Nakoda (including the Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Goodstoney First Nations). Calgary is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta (Districts 5 and 6).
