This studio creates works that dismantle stereotypes surrounding Indigenous design and offer a distinct vision of contemporary Indigenous culture. By working in the problematic but profound territory between Indigenous and western cultures, the founding principal strives to create artifacts that are rooted in Indigenous thinking but manifest in contemporary and unexpected ways. Their search for a new design language through drawing and making absorbs, embeds, and ultimately obscures direct references to Indigenous forms.
The founding principal was raised on the Oneida Reservation in Wisconsin. Their distinct and highly personal approach leverages the cultural underpinnings, devices, and thinking of Indigenous culture with a Western architectural education to manifest original design, art, and objects. Working at intensely varied scales, the firm creates cultural ports of entry that combine ancient ideas and construction techniques with overtly modern ones.
The resulting body of work has established the practice not only as the leading voice in Indigenous architecture but as a critical and poetic voice in all of architecture. The significance of their work is evident in their exhibitions and extensive lectures and through increasing national and international recognition. They were one of four architects from the United States included in the Canadian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, featuring the work of 17 Indigenous architects. They were also the recipient of the inaugural Miller Prize Installation in Columbus, Indiana.
The practice uses the raw emotional power of design to advance Indigenous culture without sacrificing its authenticity and expanding the potential of architecture itself.