May 14, 2025 • 37 mins
Join the conversation with Sam Oldixon, an architect whose designs are as robust in social purpose as they are in beauty. From his roots in South Minneapolis to reservations in northern Minnesota, Sam's journey is more than just a tale of professional success; it's a narrative woven with threads of community upliftment and justice. His role as CEO of Full Circle Indigenous Planning and Design LLC is not merely a title, but a mission statement, underlining his commitment to fostering Indigenous spaces that resonate with cultural pride and resilience.
This episode peels back the layers of architecture to reveal its potent role in the curation of cultural heritage within Indigenous communities. We discuss the balancing act of honoring traditional values through sustainable practices while engaging in the art of modern innovation. Sam imparts his wisdom on how the thoughtful design of communal spaces can serve as heartbeats of cultural activity, pulsing with the life and values of the people they were created for. It's a celebration of spaces that do more than function—they tell stories, preserve legacies, and inspire.
Looking ahead, we tackle the future of Indigenous architecture and the ripple effects of environmental justice in urban planning. With insights gleaned from Sam's time at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, we consider the influence of strategic urban planning in nurturing the relationship between Indigenous communities and their environments. The dialogue branches into mentorship's critical role in shaping future architects and planners, as well as the intriguing potential of artificial intelligence in the design process. Our exchange is enriched with visions of fostering dignity and creating spaces that reflect the vibrant tapestry of Indigenous culture.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Welcome future construct podcast listeners.
Today we have the privilege ofdelving into the aspiring
journey of visionary architectand advocate committed to
transforming the lives of NativeAmericans through innovative
and community-centric design.
Joining us is Sam Oldixon, thefounding principal and CEO of
Full Circle Indigenous Planningand Design LLC.
With over 25 years ofexperience in community-oriented
(00:34):
projects, sam has dedicated hiscareer to infusing justice and
equity into every facet of hisdesign endeavors.
A proud alumnus of the HarvardGraduate School of Design's MAUD
program, sam attributes much ofhis ability to foresee the
potential effects of his work oncommunities to his time at GSD.
He emphasizes the uniqueopportunity the program provided
(00:56):
him and opportunity to deeplyconsider the impact of the built
environment on people.
With this privilege, sambecomes, and believes, a
profound responsibility to carefor the world, our neighbors and
our environment.
From his urban roots to SouthMinneapolis to living on
reservations in northernMinnesota, sam's journey has
been marked by a deepunderstanding of diverse
(01:18):
Indigenous experiences.
This unique perspective hasshaped his approach to design,
allowing him to bit bridge thegap between inner-city
Indigenous settings and tribaland rural environments.
Sam's commitment tocommunity-oriented design has
roots in his upbringing, wherementors and teachers instilled
in him a sense of value and theimportance of giving back
Architecture for Sam became thevessel through which he could
(01:41):
impact not only individualbuildings but entire communities
and neighborhoods.
Get ready to be inspired as weexplore the incredible work and
insights of Sam Oldixon, a trueadvocate for justice, equity and
the transformative power ofarchitecture in Indigenous
communities.
Welcome to our show and thankyou for all of your many
contributions in the AAC Space,sam yeah well, thank you, it's
(02:02):
good to be here To get going.
I'd love to hear a bit about youfirst, how you first became
interested in architecture andwhat were the metaphorical
building blocks that sparkedthat interest early on.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, so I grew up in kind of, like you said, a
couple different places growingup.
I grew up mostly in SouthMinneapolis but moved back and
forth between a couple ofdifferent reservations in
northern Minnesota and one ofthe impacts was just seeing the
different quality of life indifferent areas, the urban
setting versus the rural, andjust being part of kind of the
(02:37):
poor urban and rural Indigenouscommunities.
It just kind of made me have astronger awareness of just my
environment, housing and justliving in probably not the best
places to live in.
You're aware of yoursurroundings and the challenges
that that creates and seeingother folks with better
opportunities.
So that was one of the contexts.
(03:00):
But at the same time I watchedthe Minneapolis American Indian
Center being constructed in theearly mid-70s and seeing that
built and seeing that I actuallyhad an uncle who was one of the
construction workers on theproject.
So when me and my mom wouldride on the bus next to the
building under constructionshe'd always say your uncle is
(03:21):
working on that building.
So I always thought that myuncle built it but he was one of
the trades people on the joband it gave me the just my first
experience with the fact that abuilding is being built and
it's in this for our community.
And then when it opened, I wasthere on opening day and it was
a big celebration and justwatching that site transform
(03:43):
from nothing into this beautiful, wonderful community resource
with people in.
It was probably the firstexperience I had with
architecture and the builtenvironment.
I didn't know it at the timebecause I was pretty young, but
I did understand the impact ofhaving something built for our
community.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
That's amazing.
Thank you, yeah, I love thatyou're.
You know you had that sort ofreal world experience and your
uncle working in the trade andseeing you know how many
individuals in the trade ittakes to build a building and
have that impact on thecommunity center as well.
(04:25):
Did you end up using thecommunity center?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Oh yeah, it was right in the neighborhood.
I grew up sort of all onBloomington Avenue and Franklin
Avenue.
For those people who knowMinneapolis, you know that's
where that Phillips neighborhoodis, that's where the Native
American community is, and therewas at the time the Minneapolis
American Indian Center waspretty much the heart of the
community, the only institutionthat had both the services and
(04:50):
the recreation, the culturalclasses.
I remember when I was taking atraditional dance class in the
building, but it was alwaysthere as a resource and they had
a food shelf and I rememberstanding in line with grandma
for commodity cheese and shealways wanted to, so that's why
she brought me.
But yeah, so that that buildinghad, you know, that important
(05:12):
impact and just it was rightthere in the heart of the
community and I think that's oneof the staying powers of it.
We'll talk maybe a little bitlater, but we're under a major
transformation of it, so I'mbeing part and architect of that
as well, so I have a longhistory with this building and
the community Absolutelyincredible.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I'm wondering if you could dive a little bit deeper
into what you were sayingearlier, where you had the
chance of living on multiplereservations and also living in
Southern Minnesota, and so yousaid you saw many different
aspects of life, and some ofthose aspects of life were
difficult.
What is life on the reservationlike?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Well, like on the reservation back there back then
was, you know, as a kid it was,you know, going up to see
grandma and going up to seefamily and every once in a while
I'd live there.
It was sort of a nomadicupbringing, like many Indigenous
people in Minnesota and otherreservations around the country
where we had the city folks andyou had the reservation Indians.
(06:15):
And I'm a citizen of the WhiteEarth Nation and I lived in
Natowash but my grandma lived ina small town called Ball Club
on Leech Lake and so going backand forth, living with my
grandma, living with my mom,living with my dad, at times I
probably moved 30 plus times bythe time I graduated high school
(06:37):
.
So it was really a nomadiclifestyle and anywhere from a
small trailer you know that wasaging to multifamily housing, to
just those differentenvironments and again that the
urban Indigenous community hereFranklin Avenue.
When I grew up it was a lot ofliquor stores and there was a
(06:58):
whole lot of maybe not so greatthings happening there on the
reservation those times, andstill are there's a lot of
poverty, there's a lot of needfor help and there's a lot of
opportunity for design and Ithink all of those things sort
of just call us in my mind as Igrew up and that's what really
(07:19):
kind of solidified my interestin the built environment, not
necessarily just architectureitself, because I do anything
from actual buildings tomultiple buildings to whole
neighborhoods.
I do community design andvisioning and graphics and all
sorts of things, landscape.
So all of these opportunitieshave impacts that can help shape
(07:42):
a community, that can helpshape cultural revitalization,
ecological restoration, both onand off reservations in the city
.
There's so many differentaspects that design impacts our
experience as people.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah, I'd love to dive into that a little bit more
, Sam.
For example, how do younavigate the balance between
different environments of yourupbringing into your design work
, ensuring that it resonateswith the indigenous experience?
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, so on reservations at least with my
reservations there are somesmall towns, there's a lot of
rural areas, there's some verysmall towns In the city.
Here we've got a lot of density, so just the context can be
very different.
So in Minneapolis it's a denserelatively dense urban
(08:30):
environment.
There's a lot of transportation.
We have a new-ish light railstation in our community we're
building five, six stories andthat's very different than on a
reservation where there are mostlikely individual buildings.
Sometimes they're more spreadout.
A lot of reservation and urbanareas the land base of the
(08:52):
indigenous organizations areusually scattered, so it's not
like you always have that onecore big site to work with.
So it's all about understandingwhat the environment is.
Every place, every communityhas a different context and
different environment.
I grew up mostly in coldweather climates, so designing
(09:15):
for that can be relativelyimportant.
I actually have the honor towork with tribes all over the
country, so I'm working inplaces such as Southern
California to Louisiana, rightnow to Alaska, washington State,
and so all of them all havedifferent contexts and different
cultural stories behind them.
(09:35):
And when I design in mycommunity so I'm Ojibwe
Hanashinabe I look to culturalleaders and elders to get
guidance on what is appropriatefor that.
Look at the beauty of ourtraditional architecture and
cultural forms and identity andtry to infuse them into design.
It's not just about aesthetics,though.
(09:57):
It's about how does our culturesucceed best?
You know, how does our, how doour communities, how are they
designed to create the mix ofservices and amenities and
recreation and housing to makeit a thriving, healthy community
?
And so, in those ways,designing both in the city and
(10:18):
on reservations can be verysimilar, because what you're
doing is you're thinking aboutthe long-term future, that
seven-generational thinkingabout what are the design
impacts we're going to have byour choices and how are they
going to support a thrivingcommunity.
And that again has to do withall of the different aspects
(10:40):
that create opportunity forculture and recreation and
education and economies.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Fantastic, Sam.
This has been so insightful sofar.
I'm so excited to continuediving into your work, and we
talked at a high level of howyou approach your projects.
I'd love to hear specificallyin the last 25 years of
community development and work,is there a notable project on
your mind that has really helpedyou transform the community and
the neighborhoods?
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Yeah, I think two come to mind actually.
One is the Minneapolis AmericanIndian Center that's nearing
completion, that'll be open May1st of this year.
Another is a urban planningproject in Cass Lake, minnesota,
so up on one of my reservations.
The Minneapolis project is partof an effort that's led by the
(11:34):
Native American CommunityDevelopment Institute called the
American Indian CulturalCorridor, and so we've been
doing master planning alongFranklin Avenue in Minneapolis
to understand how design andownership and construction and
building can help reallyrejuvenate this community Again.
(11:56):
In the 70s and 80s there werenot the best type of retail
establishments for our communityon the sites, but we've been
working as a community to reallytransform the built fabric more
housing, more community centers, more services, but also the
economic opportunities.
And the Minneapolis AmericanIndian Center is at the heart of
(12:18):
that.
It has long been the heart ofour community but it had gotten
through many years of justchallenges with operating it.
It's very expensive to run abuilding that was designed in
the 70s when fuel was cheap andso we didn't have a whole lot of
insulation.
Over time the skylights wereleaking and really the nature of
(12:42):
the community also changedbecause there was a lot of
social services in the building.
There had been less of theopportunities for culture and
for meeting and for economics.
So when we started thinkingabout renovating the facility,
we stepped back with thecommunity and we did almost a
(13:03):
decade of community engagement,really trying to understand what
the community needed.
So we were designing to meetthose needs and again the
community was the biggest voicein all this.
We had questionnaires, we hadopen houses, we had many
different outreach opportunitiesto ask people what this
(13:24):
facility needed and what did ourcommunity and how we can do
that from that.
So now in the renovation wehave opportunities for
co-working space, there is anart gallery, there are programs
for elders, there's going to bea teen text center, so there's
youth elders, there's health andwellness, there's a gym, there
(13:48):
is a workout space, there is anew restaurant that'll be along
Franklin Avenue.
So it's really a lot of thedifferent needs of our community
all embodied in one centrallocation, and so that's going to
be again a very transformativeproject for what we're doing
here and it'll support otherorganizations in the area who
(14:09):
can also use the large spacesand the meeting rooms that we've
designed.
The other impactful project thatI think is going to be
important is that project.
In Cast Lake there is asuperfund site where there were
these companies over the decadesthat essentially polluted Cast
(14:30):
Lake.
The groundwater is undrinkableright now.
The site is unusable.
There are areas that are fencedoff with razor wire because
it's just that unhealthy to bethere.
Cast Lake has seen a downturnfor a number of different
reasons, but I've been involvedin the past year and a half
working with the community toenvision what a healthy future
(14:53):
Cast Lake would be.
So how do we redevelop, how dowe clean up the superfund site?
How do we create betterconnections between housing and
new opportunities for economicdevelopment to help the citizens
not only just find work, findplaces to not have to drive an
(15:13):
hour to get services or whateverthey need, but how do we create
that central location within areservation community that acts
as a core neighborhood that hasall those things together?
So I talked about those twoprojects because architecture
again isn't just about abuilding, but it's about what is
(15:34):
the impact of the building andwhat is the impact of what we do
, and that is far more than justsimply what it looks like.
What does it generate, whatdoes it act as a catalyst for in
the community, and how canthese things help create future
opportunities to develop andbuild more and create a stable
(15:56):
community?
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Well, I'm so grateful that the community has you to
work with, especially on theCast Lake project.
It sounds like a lot of damagehas been done there and I'm
grateful that you're helpingcorrect that damage and, as you
mentioned, provide a positiveimpact.
And I'm very, very excited forthe community building that
you've been working on andthat'll be opening up in May.
(16:20):
That's very exciting.
Would love to hear, in yourmany years of experience and
many projects that you've workedon, are there specific design
principles or strategies youemploy to bring sort of a modern
day approach into thepreservation of cultural
heritage with indigenouscommunities?
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Yeah, I think design and expression is so important.
Architecture often gets leftout of the discussion.
When we think about culturalrevitalization.
We focus a lot on language, thearts, crafts, other different
traditional cultural practices.
Architecture often is thoughtof as something else, so it
(17:04):
doesn't really get included.
And all that.
But we have such a rich historyof beautiful design in every
community across the country.
All indigenous communities hadbuildings that responded to the
materials, the landscapes, theseasons.
All of those were reflected inhow buildings were built.
How communities builtthemselves were the different
(17:28):
seasonal patterns of life, andso those are great ways to think
about, I think, values of ourcommunity.
If you think about the way ourtraditional buildings were meant
to dissolve into nature once wewere done with them, there were
no chemicals, there were noit's really hard for modern-day
(17:50):
archaeologists to even find manyof our communities because they
don't understand the importancewe placed on not impacting and
hurting our environment.
So when I think aboutsustainable design and
regenerative design, I alwayslook to indigenous values.
So it's not only about thecolors, the shapes, the patterns
, the symbols of our communities, but it's also about the values
(18:12):
, about how we treated eachother, how we treated our
environment, how we gathered thedifferent practices, what was
our reciprocal relationshipbetween the plants and animals
and the weather and the seasons.
That all impacted not only ourbuilt environment but also our
culture.
So everything was intertwinedand in Ojibwe there's no word
(18:35):
for architect.
There never was.
There was no word reallyspecifically for art, because it
wasn't this compartmentalized,separated thing, that sort of
modern Western practices and todo with them A holistic,
indigenous, full circle processof incorporating everything into
(18:58):
your daily lives, and thateverything was related was so
important in every aspect of it,and so that's kind of the
foundational thing is to look atthe values.
The other thing wasarchitecture and design was a
community event, so it wasn'tjust about a single architect
sitting there working anddrawing up plans and then hiring
(19:19):
a contract to build it, butwomen were the designers and the
builders in our communitiesoften, and community built
things together, and so itwasn't just about one family.
It was about how do we createand design so that our entire
community can succeed.
So I looked at that as a value.
(19:39):
When I think about aesthetics,we had so many different
beautiful aesthetic traditionsthe beadwork, the painting, the
regalia everything is reallyimportant.
I don't take an attitude whereI take those ideas and I
abstract them too much in amodern way or I try to
(20:00):
reappropriate them.
So you're not going to see awhole lot of eagles and feathers
and and TBs or arbitrary thingsand the designs that I do, but
you'll see things that evoke thequalities of why those things
existed, the importance ofcultural identity.
You know, beadwork and othertraditional art forms were
(20:23):
constructed and made, and it allrelated to the, to the use of
the actual materials that wewere utilizing at the same time.
So when you think about usingsteel and concrete and drywall
and acoustic materials, youcan't just simply, you know,
reflect those on a one-to-onebasis, but you can create spaces
(20:48):
for those things to happen.
You can create opportunities,for identity happen in many
different ways.
One of the important things thatall communities want to evoke
in building is just that senseof walk welcome, you know, how
does this building welcome you?
What is that entry?
What is what?
Is there a different way ofeven designing the spaces of a
(21:08):
building?
Buildings aren't just aboutlike, what does it look like
from the outside, but it's alsoabout how do you move through
space, what are the types ofspaces that are inside?
What are those spaces allowedfor and those activities and the
uses that become so important,and how you actually design a
building.
So you know there's manydifferent, overlapping,
(21:30):
interrelated factors that impacta design.
One of the most importantthings is that each community
gets to design it for themselves.
So I don't see myself as thearchitect coming in to design
for a community, but I'm therewith a certain skill, set and
experience and I can help themget from an idea to either a
(21:52):
built community or a builtbuilding or built infrastructure
piece or a landscape.
But I want it to be from theirheart and their ideas and their
values.
So a long community engagement,relationship building process is
really important for everyproject.
To make sure that culturalleaders, that people who may not
(22:14):
always even think that they'rea designer or wouldn't even be
involved in a discussion about abuilding I try to go and find
them and say, hey, this is yourbuilding and anything that they
say is fair game.
And how can we create at leastif we can't incorporate every
element that every communitywants?
But how can we evoke andexpress the goals of the
(22:38):
buildings?
And again, it comes to theoutcome when a building is done
and built and that people fillit up with activity.
That's the best point in thewhole process is once you see it
full of life and full ofculture and full of activity.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
It sounds like you have a really impressive ability
to help the community feel seen, and that's very special.
I also loved your focus on thelink between sustainability and
core values.
That was a real strongconnection that you made for me
and I imagine there's so muchthat our modern building can
(23:19):
learn from the values of thenative community.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
We'd love to dive into your experience at Harvard
Graduate School of Design.
So I understand that you have amaster of architecture and
urban design and that helps inyour ability to foresee the
potential effects of work oncommunities.
What are some of thesignificant lessons and insights
from your time at GSD?
For example, that changed yourapproach to indigenous design
(23:49):
and planning.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Yeah.
So my undergraduate degree wasat Cornell and it was a Bachelor
of Architecture and it focusedon a lot of different design
thinking.
It's about really problemsolving.
Design is really about how doyou problem solve and the
methods and the means arethrough buildings and materials,
but they're always trying tocreate opportunities to solve a
(24:16):
need, a spatial need, a culturalneed, a use need.
When I went back for my graduatedegree, I wanted to not just do
another architecture degree butexpand thinking into broader,
regionally based thinking.
So architecture is about abuilding and urban design is
(24:39):
about the relationships betweenthose building and a combination
of that, but also thinkingabout how it impacts the
landscape, how different cityprocesses, the relationship
between developers, public,private partnerships.
There's so many things thatneed to happen to get a building
done that I wanted to be atleast aware and part of most
(25:03):
aspects of it.
There's fundraising you have toget things through the city.
There is financing.
There's so many differentthings about just setting the
context to actually get thebuildings and the funds and the
site for that.
And through my urban design I'malso doing large scale
(25:24):
community planning.
So a 300 house community withparks and infrastructure and
cultural facilities.
So thinking on that reallyregional and broad scale is
important.
Many tribes have had thescenario where they've gotten
funds at very different timesfor different projects and they
(25:45):
have very limited sites, and sonow they have very scattered
buildings across the reservation, which perpetuates sort of a
suburban model of car dependency.
And so what I try to do isthink about what is the right
relationship of the buildings toeach other within the construct
of a community's available land, preserving natural features,
(26:10):
cultural sites, but trying tocreate some sort of denser
environment so that if you haveto drive your car you can go to
one place and then walk to therest of them, that those
services are actually in walkingdistance from your house, so
that you're not having to driveeverywhere back and forth.
So it's that bigger thinkingthat interested me, that brought
(26:32):
me to my graduate degree, butagain, it's that relationship
between how do you think aboutanything from an individual room
to an entire reservation system, so that everything reinforces
a sense of success.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
And speaking of the sense of success, I understand
that you had a lecture at theGraduate School of Design which
focused on culture, communityand environmental justice and
contemporary indigenous design.
Could you share a briefoverview and outline of the
lecture and how you believe thatthese elements are crucial in
shaping the future of indigenousdesign?
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Yeah, so I get the honor to be asked to speak and
be part of different designreviews at a couple different
institutions.
A while back I did speak atFerrari, but I came back from
the context of not like, this isall my work, here's pretty
pictures, some sort of graduatestory hat in the back.
But it was more about trying tolike, inspire people who are
(27:39):
there, who may be graduating,understanding that there's
different paths than going totry to get out there in
architecture to just do a workbuilding or just do something
that looks cool or makes money,but that you really can have an
impact and that you can have animpact on many different ways.
So when I talk aboutarchitecture, my experiences, I
(28:00):
do talk about a lot of thethings that you've asked me
about, like how do you evenstart and what are the reasons
why you might become anarchitect?
What are the reasons why acommunity needs architecture?
What are the differentinterrelated, social, cultural,
economic identity aspects thathelp create that larger purpose
(28:22):
and meaning for creating anenvironment?
And so I often think about theexperience of a young child
waking up and what is theirexperience in that day.
Did they have a warm bed?
Did they have a familystructure that greeted them with
(28:43):
a smile, were they able to eat?
And if they're going to school,what do they see when they
first walk outside of their door?
Do they see a beautifulcommunity with culture and
people walking and alsoopportunity?
And that's the vision thattribal communities have all over
the country.
It's, how do we create that typeof pride and dignity in our
(29:08):
environment?
Again, we were detached fromeven the control of our built
environment for so many yearsbecause there are so few
architects that are nativearound the country.
There's so few people who arein the landscape or engineering
that help impact it, in spite ofthe fact that it plays such an
(29:29):
important role in our lives.
Every day we're in a buildingand every day we're going from
one building to another.
Every person listening here issomehow being impacted by the
environment that they're in, andI always like to think about
that.
We shape as designers.
We shape our environment, butreally the way to think about it
(29:52):
is under the same impact thatour environment shapes us and
our environment shapes everyone.
So what can we create so thatthat environment inspires that
dignity and health and wellnessand opportunity for people in
our communities now, butespecially in future generations
?
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Beautiful.
Thank you so much for sharingthat, Sam.
Reflecting on your nativeupbringing and the mentors who
instill this sense of value, howdo you mentor and inspire the
next generation of indigenousarchitects and planners?
Speaker 2 (30:26):
Mentorship is so important, and I can think of so
many examples of people whosaid one little thing that they
didn't even know they said, andit gave me either pride or
confidence to do this, and I waslucky enough to have people
around me who maybe believe Icould do anything I wanted.
So that's part of what I want togive back to others.
(30:48):
One effort that I'm working onnow, and this is with the other
one of two native architects inMinnesota.
His name is Mike Labrador atDSGW, and he's spearheading the
idea of an indigenous designcamp, and so we've been waiting
over the past couple months totry to develop and promote a
(31:12):
design camp in the Twin Citieshere for people who might be
interested or who don't knowabout the field of architecture,
design and planning andlandscape, so that they can see
that there are two people wholook like them working in our
community that they can do it.
There's a lot of differentreasons maybe why people don't
(31:33):
get into the design professionsas native people, but one of the
things that me and Mike andother native architects around
the country do is we always makesure that we talk to people.
We talk to the schools andother people in the communities.
We all focus on communityengagement in that sense of like
yeah, we're designing thistogether.
(31:54):
So that mentorship, you knowthat mentorship even that word
kind of sounds top down, butit's really being a resource and
being, you know, leading byexample and just doing it.
So just people seeing it,people seeing buildings come up
out of nothing, just like I sawwhen I was four or five years
(32:15):
old, and say, wow, that justhappened.
And here I am, decades lateractually doing it.
So it's instilling that senseof belief in others and helping
them now chart a path to getthere, because when I was little
there were no native architectsthat I was aware of.
I didn't actually meet anarchitect until I went to
(32:36):
architecture school, and so if Ican provide at least
opportunities or paths, or evenif they're related fields, then
that's one way of hopefullyimpacting, you know, generations
of architects that are nativeto come.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
And what advice would you have for those aspiring to
follow in your footsteps?
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Well, it's, you know, find.
Think about the impact, and I'mgoing to go back to that.
One thing that I focus on isthink about the impact of
creating places where people cansucceed, and that can be in any
field really, from a builtenvironment, being involved in
(33:26):
those discussions about what'simportant to a community, being
involved in the discussions ofhow do you give that form in
life.
And you can be involved in thisthrough planning or financing
or being a leader in theorganization that hires an
architect.
There's so many different waysyou can be part of getting
things built and done and doingit from an indigenous
(33:49):
perspective, involving people,and it's really about capacity
building in a community.
It's a generational thing.
There were no native architects.
Now there's a couple, nextgeneration, hopefully, there's a
handful and hopefully even moreas we go on.
So it's just really thinkingabout that.
This we're in a continuity of awhole lot of different forces,
(34:13):
so I'm just one piece of what awhole lot of people set up for
me in my community to make mesucceed, and we need to do that
and give that back to the peoplewho are going to come after us.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
Well speaking of the next generation as a final
question of the show and atradition of future construct,
if you could project yourselfout 25 years and wanted to have
any device or technology thatwould benefit you personally,
what would it be and what wouldit do?
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Yes, it's a great question.
I think one of the bigquestions in the field of
architecture is what AIartificial intelligence is going
to do, because you canliterally Teleprogram, design a
building with this many, yeah,units of housing, and its four
stories, and it's made out ofwood and it'll pop something up.
(35:01):
It's it's it's kind ofinteresting and it's kind of
scary and it's kind of it's abig question.
And so how's that going toimpact the way our communities
get built?
And so, if the technology isthere, I would love for that
technology to give power andopportunity for communities to
(35:24):
Design for themselves, designtheir own places, to have that
impact on what they do.
And so that technology it, ifit creates that sense of
excitement and opportunity andWays for people to envision
Buildings, communities.
I think that's what I lookforward to.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Yeah, what a great view lens to view that, that
that technology from Well, sam,I've really enjoyed our
conversation and I've learned somuch from you.
Thank you so much for yourdedication to see it to the
indigenous community and foryour years of success and the
impact that you've had on theindustry.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
Yeah well, thank you.
That's a good thing to talkabout, and Having discussions
about future of community is isis so important, and so I'm
inviting Everyone to reach outto me or, you know, have this
important discussions acommunity about what's gonna
Make a better place for everyone.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
Fantastic.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Sam Appreciate you Go ahead, just thank you.
Welcome future construct podcast listeners.
Today we have the privilege ofdelving into the aspiring
journey of visionary architectand advocate committed to
transforming the lives of NativeAmericans through innovative
and community-centric design.
Joining us is Sam Oldixon, thefounding principal and CEO of
Full Circle Indigenous Planningand Design LLC.
With over 25 years ofexperience in community-oriented
(00:34):
projects, sam has dedicated hiscareer to infusing justice and
equity into every facet of hisdesign endeavors.
A proud alumnus of the HarvardGraduate School of Design's MAUD
program, sam attributes much ofhis ability to foresee the
potential effects of his work oncommunities to his time at GSD.
He emphasizes the uniqueopportunity the program provided
(00:56):
him and opportunity to deeplyconsider the impact of the built
environment on people.
With this privilege, sambecomes, and believes, a
profound responsibility to carefor the world, our neighbors and
our environment.
From his urban roots to SouthMinneapolis to living on
reservations in northernMinnesota, sam's journey has
been marked by a deepunderstanding of diverse
(01:18):
Indigenous experiences.
This unique perspective hasshaped his approach to design,
allowing him to bit bridge thegap between inner-city
Indigenous settings and tribaland rural environments.
Sam's commitment tocommunity-oriented design has
roots in his upbringing, wherementors and teachers instilled
in him a sense of value and theimportance of giving back
Architecture for Sam became thevessel through which he could
(01:41):
impact not only individualbuildings but entire communities
and neighborhoods.
Get ready to be inspired as weexplore the incredible work and
insights of Sam Oldixon, a trueadvocate for justice, equity and
the transformative power ofarchitecture in Indigenous
communities.
Welcome to our show and thankyou for all of your many
contributions in the AAC Space,sam yeah well, thank you, it's
(02:02):
good to be here To get going.
I'd love to hear a bit about youfirst, how you first became
interested in architecture andwhat were the metaphorical
building blocks that sparkedthat interest early on.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, so I grew up in kind of, like you said, a
couple different places growingup.
I grew up mostly in SouthMinneapolis but moved back and
forth between a couple ofdifferent reservations in
northern Minnesota and one ofthe impacts was just seeing the
different quality of life indifferent areas, the urban
setting versus the rural, andjust being part of kind of the
(02:37):
poor urban and rural Indigenouscommunities.
It just kind of made me have astronger awareness of just my
environment, housing and justliving in probably not the best
places to live in.
You're aware of yoursurroundings and the challenges
that that creates and seeingother folks with better
opportunities.
So that was one of the contexts.
(03:00):
But at the same time I watchedthe Minneapolis American Indian
Center being constructed in theearly mid-70s and seeing that
built and seeing that I actuallyhad an uncle who was one of the
construction workers on theproject.
So when me and my mom wouldride on the bus next to the
building under constructionshe'd always say your uncle is
(03:21):
working on that building.
So I always thought that myuncle built it but he was one of
the trades people on the joband it gave me the just my first
experience with the fact that abuilding is being built and
it's in this for our community.
And then when it opened, I wasthere on opening day and it was
a big celebration and justwatching that site transform
(03:43):
from nothing into this beautiful, wonderful community resource
with people in.
It was probably the firstexperience I had with
architecture and the builtenvironment.
I didn't know it at the timebecause I was pretty young, but
I did understand the impact ofhaving something built for our
community.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
That's amazing.
Thank you, yeah, I love thatyou're.
You know you had that sort ofreal world experience and your
uncle working in the trade andseeing you know how many
individuals in the trade ittakes to build a building and
have that impact on thecommunity center as well.
(04:25):
Did you end up using thecommunity center?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Oh yeah, it was right in the neighborhood.
I grew up sort of all onBloomington Avenue and Franklin
Avenue.
For those people who knowMinneapolis, you know that's
where that Phillips neighborhoodis, that's where the Native
American community is, and therewas at the time the Minneapolis
American Indian Center waspretty much the heart of the
community, the only institutionthat had both the services and
(04:50):
the recreation, the culturalclasses.
I remember when I was taking atraditional dance class in the
building, but it was alwaysthere as a resource and they had
a food shelf and I rememberstanding in line with grandma
for commodity cheese and shealways wanted to, so that's why
she brought me.
But yeah, so that that buildinghad, you know, that important
(05:12):
impact and just it was rightthere in the heart of the
community and I think that's oneof the staying powers of it.
We'll talk maybe a little bitlater, but we're under a major
transformation of it, so I'mbeing part and architect of that
as well, so I have a longhistory with this building and
the community Absolutelyincredible.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I'm wondering if you could dive a little bit deeper
into what you were sayingearlier, where you had the
chance of living on multiplereservations and also living in
Southern Minnesota, and so yousaid you saw many different
aspects of life, and some ofthose aspects of life were
difficult.
What is life on the reservationlike?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Well, like on the reservation back there back then
was, you know, as a kid it was,you know, going up to see
grandma and going up to seefamily and every once in a while
I'd live there.
It was sort of a nomadicupbringing, like many Indigenous
people in Minnesota and otherreservations around the country
where we had the city folks andyou had the reservation Indians.
(06:15):
And I'm a citizen of the WhiteEarth Nation and I lived in
Natowash but my grandma lived ina small town called Ball Club
on Leech Lake and so going backand forth, living with my
grandma, living with my mom,living with my dad, at times I
probably moved 30 plus times bythe time I graduated high school
(06:37):
.
So it was really a nomadiclifestyle and anywhere from a
small trailer you know that wasaging to multifamily housing, to
just those differentenvironments and again that the
urban Indigenous community hereFranklin Avenue.
When I grew up it was a lot ofliquor stores and there was a
(06:58):
whole lot of maybe not so greatthings happening there on the
reservation those times, andstill are there's a lot of
poverty, there's a lot of needfor help and there's a lot of
opportunity for design and Ithink all of those things sort
of just call us in my mind as Igrew up and that's what really
(07:19):
kind of solidified my interestin the built environment, not
necessarily just architectureitself, because I do anything
from actual buildings tomultiple buildings to whole
neighborhoods.
I do community design andvisioning and graphics and all
sorts of things, landscape.
So all of these opportunitieshave impacts that can help shape
(07:42):
a community, that can helpshape cultural revitalization,
ecological restoration, both onand off reservations in the city
.
There's so many differentaspects that design impacts our
experience as people.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah, I'd love to dive into that a little bit more
, Sam.
For example, how do younavigate the balance between
different environments of yourupbringing into your design work
, ensuring that it resonateswith the indigenous experience?
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, so on reservations at least with my
reservations there are somesmall towns, there's a lot of
rural areas, there's some verysmall towns In the city.
Here we've got a lot of density, so just the context can be
very different.
So in Minneapolis it's a denserelatively dense urban
(08:30):
environment.
There's a lot of transportation.
We have a new-ish light railstation in our community we're
building five, six stories andthat's very different than on a
reservation where there are mostlikely individual buildings.
Sometimes they're more spreadout.
A lot of reservation and urbanareas the land base of the
(08:52):
indigenous organizations areusually scattered, so it's not
like you always have that onecore big site to work with.
So it's all about understandingwhat the environment is.
Every place, every communityhas a different context and
different environment.
I grew up mostly in coldweather climates, so designing
(09:15):
for that can be relativelyimportant.
I actually have the honor towork with tribes all over the
country, so I'm working inplaces such as Southern
California to Louisiana, rightnow to Alaska, washington State,
and so all of them all havedifferent contexts and different
cultural stories behind them.
(09:35):
And when I design in mycommunity so I'm Ojibwe
Hanashinabe I look to culturalleaders and elders to get
guidance on what is appropriatefor that.
Look at the beauty of ourtraditional architecture and
cultural forms and identity andtry to infuse them into design.
It's not just about aesthetics,though.
(09:57):
It's about how does our culturesucceed best?
You know, how does our, how doour communities, how are they
designed to create the mix ofservices and amenities and
recreation and housing to makeit a thriving, healthy community
?
And so, in those ways,designing both in the city and
(10:18):
on reservations can be verysimilar, because what you're
doing is you're thinking aboutthe long-term future, that
seven-generational thinkingabout what are the design
impacts we're going to have byour choices and how are they
going to support a thrivingcommunity.
And that again has to do withall of the different aspects
(10:40):
that create opportunity forculture and recreation and
education and economies.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Fantastic, Sam.
This has been so insightful sofar.
I'm so excited to continuediving into your work, and we
talked at a high level of howyou approach your projects.
I'd love to hear specificallyin the last 25 years of
community development and work,is there a notable project on
your mind that has really helpedyou transform the community and
the neighborhoods?
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Yeah, I think two come to mind actually.
One is the Minneapolis AmericanIndian Center that's nearing
completion, that'll be open May1st of this year.
Another is a urban planningproject in Cass Lake, minnesota,
so up on one of my reservations.
The Minneapolis project is partof an effort that's led by the
(11:34):
Native American CommunityDevelopment Institute called the
American Indian CulturalCorridor, and so we've been
doing master planning alongFranklin Avenue in Minneapolis
to understand how design andownership and construction and
building can help reallyrejuvenate this community Again.
(11:56):
In the 70s and 80s there werenot the best type of retail
establishments for our communityon the sites, but we've been
working as a community to reallytransform the built fabric more
housing, more community centers, more services, but also the
economic opportunities.
And the Minneapolis AmericanIndian Center is at the heart of
(12:18):
that.
It has long been the heart ofour community but it had gotten
through many years of justchallenges with operating it.
It's very expensive to run abuilding that was designed in
the 70s when fuel was cheap andso we didn't have a whole lot of
insulation.
Over time the skylights wereleaking and really the nature of
(12:42):
the community also changedbecause there was a lot of
social services in the building.
There had been less of theopportunities for culture and
for meeting and for economics.
So when we started thinkingabout renovating the facility,
we stepped back with thecommunity and we did almost a
(13:03):
decade of community engagement,really trying to understand what
the community needed.
So we were designing to meetthose needs and again the
community was the biggest voicein all this.
We had questionnaires, we hadopen houses, we had many
different outreach opportunitiesto ask people what this
(13:24):
facility needed and what did ourcommunity and how we can do
that from that.
So now in the renovation wehave opportunities for
co-working space, there is anart gallery, there are programs
for elders, there's going to bea teen text center, so there's
youth elders, there's health andwellness, there's a gym, there
(13:48):
is a workout space, there is anew restaurant that'll be along
Franklin Avenue.
So it's really a lot of thedifferent needs of our community
all embodied in one centrallocation, and so that's going to
be again a very transformativeproject for what we're doing
here and it'll support otherorganizations in the area who
(14:09):
can also use the large spacesand the meeting rooms that we've
designed.
The other impactful project thatI think is going to be
important is that project.
In Cast Lake there is asuperfund site where there were
these companies over the decadesthat essentially polluted Cast
(14:30):
Lake.
The groundwater is undrinkableright now.
The site is unusable.
There are areas that are fencedoff with razor wire because
it's just that unhealthy to bethere.
Cast Lake has seen a downturnfor a number of different
reasons, but I've been involvedin the past year and a half
working with the community toenvision what a healthy future
(14:53):
Cast Lake would be.
So how do we redevelop, how dowe clean up the superfund site?
How do we create betterconnections between housing and
new opportunities for economicdevelopment to help the citizens
not only just find work, findplaces to not have to drive an
(15:13):
hour to get services or whateverthey need, but how do we create
that central location within areservation community that acts
as a core neighborhood that hasall those things together?
So I talked about those twoprojects because architecture
again isn't just about abuilding, but it's about what is
(15:34):
the impact of the building andwhat is the impact of what we do
, and that is far more than justsimply what it looks like.
What does it generate, whatdoes it act as a catalyst for in
the community, and how canthese things help create future
opportunities to develop andbuild more and create a stable
(15:56):
community?
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Well, I'm so grateful that the community has you to
work with, especially on theCast Lake project.
It sounds like a lot of damagehas been done there and I'm
grateful that you're helpingcorrect that damage and, as you
mentioned, provide a positiveimpact.
And I'm very, very excited forthe community building that
you've been working on andthat'll be opening up in May.
(16:20):
That's very exciting.
Would love to hear, in yourmany years of experience and
many projects that you've workedon, are there specific design
principles or strategies youemploy to bring sort of a modern
day approach into thepreservation of cultural
heritage with indigenouscommunities?
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Yeah, I think design and expression is so important.
Architecture often gets leftout of the discussion.
When we think about culturalrevitalization.
We focus a lot on language, thearts, crafts, other different
traditional cultural practices.
Architecture often is thoughtof as something else, so it
(17:04):
doesn't really get included.
And all that.
But we have such a rich historyof beautiful design in every
community across the country.
All indigenous communities hadbuildings that responded to the
materials, the landscapes, theseasons.
All of those were reflected inhow buildings were built.
How communities builtthemselves were the different
(17:28):
seasonal patterns of life, andso those are great ways to think
about, I think, values of ourcommunity.
If you think about the way ourtraditional buildings were meant
to dissolve into nature once wewere done with them, there were
no chemicals, there were noit's really hard for modern-day
(17:50):
archaeologists to even find manyof our communities because they
don't understand the importancewe placed on not impacting and
hurting our environment.
So when I think aboutsustainable design and
regenerative design, I alwayslook to indigenous values.
So it's not only about thecolors, the shapes, the patterns
, the symbols of our communities, but it's also about the values
(18:12):
, about how we treated eachother, how we treated our
environment, how we gathered thedifferent practices, what was
our reciprocal relationshipbetween the plants and animals
and the weather and the seasons.
That all impacted not only ourbuilt environment but also our
culture.
So everything was intertwinedand in Ojibwe there's no word
(18:35):
for architect.
There never was.
There was no word reallyspecifically for art, because it
wasn't this compartmentalized,separated thing, that sort of
modern Western practices and todo with them A holistic,
indigenous, full circle processof incorporating everything into
(18:58):
your daily lives, and thateverything was related was so
important in every aspect of it,and so that's kind of the
foundational thing is to look atthe values.
The other thing wasarchitecture and design was a
community event, so it wasn'tjust about a single architect
sitting there working anddrawing up plans and then hiring
(19:19):
a contract to build it, butwomen were the designers and the
builders in our communitiesoften, and community built
things together, and so itwasn't just about one family.
It was about how do we createand design so that our entire
community can succeed.
So I looked at that as a value.
(19:39):
When I think about aesthetics,we had so many different
beautiful aesthetic traditionsthe beadwork, the painting, the
regalia everything is reallyimportant.
I don't take an attitude whereI take those ideas and I
abstract them too much in amodern way or I try to
(20:00):
reappropriate them.
So you're not going to see awhole lot of eagles and feathers
and and TBs or arbitrary thingsand the designs that I do, but
you'll see things that evoke thequalities of why those things
existed, the importance ofcultural identity.
You know, beadwork and othertraditional art forms were
(20:23):
constructed and made, and it allrelated to the, to the use of
the actual materials that wewere utilizing at the same time.
So when you think about usingsteel and concrete and drywall
and acoustic materials, youcan't just simply, you know,
reflect those on a one-to-onebasis, but you can create spaces
(20:48):
for those things to happen.
You can create opportunities,for identity happen in many
different ways.
One of the important things thatall communities want to evoke
in building is just that senseof walk welcome, you know, how
does this building welcome you?
What is that entry?
What is what?
Is there a different way ofeven designing the spaces of a
(21:08):
building?
Buildings aren't just aboutlike, what does it look like
from the outside, but it's alsoabout how do you move through
space, what are the types ofspaces that are inside?
What are those spaces allowedfor and those activities and the
uses that become so important,and how you actually design a
building.
So you know there's manydifferent, overlapping,
(21:30):
interrelated factors that impacta design.
One of the most importantthings is that each community
gets to design it for themselves.
So I don't see myself as thearchitect coming in to design
for a community, but I'm therewith a certain skill, set and
experience and I can help themget from an idea to either a
(21:52):
built community or a builtbuilding or built infrastructure
piece or a landscape.
But I want it to be from theirheart and their ideas and their
values.
So a long community engagement,relationship building process is
really important for everyproject.
To make sure that culturalleaders, that people who may not
(22:14):
always even think that they'rea designer or wouldn't even be
involved in a discussion about abuilding I try to go and find
them and say, hey, this is yourbuilding and anything that they
say is fair game.
And how can we create at leastif we can't incorporate every
element that every communitywants?
But how can we evoke andexpress the goals of the
(22:38):
buildings?
And again, it comes to theoutcome when a building is done
and built and that people fillit up with activity.
That's the best point in thewhole process is once you see it
full of life and full ofculture and full of activity.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
It sounds like you have a really impressive ability
to help the community feel seen, and that's very special.
I also loved your focus on thelink between sustainability and
core values.
That was a real strongconnection that you made for me
and I imagine there's so muchthat our modern building can
(23:19):
learn from the values of thenative community.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
We'd love to dive into your experience at Harvard
Graduate School of Design.
So I understand that you have amaster of architecture and
urban design and that helps inyour ability to foresee the
potential effects of work oncommunities.
What are some of thesignificant lessons and insights
from your time at GSD?
For example, that changed yourapproach to indigenous design
(23:49):
and planning.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Yeah.
So my undergraduate degree wasat Cornell and it was a Bachelor
of Architecture and it focusedon a lot of different design
thinking.
It's about really problemsolving.
Design is really about how doyou problem solve and the
methods and the means arethrough buildings and materials,
but they're always trying tocreate opportunities to solve a
(24:16):
need, a spatial need, a culturalneed, a use need.
When I went back for my graduatedegree, I wanted to not just do
another architecture degree butexpand thinking into broader,
regionally based thinking.
So architecture is about abuilding and urban design is
(24:39):
about the relationships betweenthose building and a combination
of that, but also thinkingabout how it impacts the
landscape, how different cityprocesses, the relationship
between developers, public,private partnerships.
There's so many things thatneed to happen to get a building
done that I wanted to be atleast aware and part of most
(25:03):
aspects of it.
There's fundraising you have toget things through the city.
There is financing.
There's so many differentthings about just setting the
context to actually get thebuildings and the funds and the
site for that.
And through my urban design I'malso doing large scale
(25:24):
community planning.
So a 300 house community withparks and infrastructure and
cultural facilities.
So thinking on that reallyregional and broad scale is
important.
Many tribes have had thescenario where they've gotten
funds at very different timesfor different projects and they
(25:45):
have very limited sites, and sonow they have very scattered
buildings across the reservation, which perpetuates sort of a
suburban model of car dependency.
And so what I try to do isthink about what is the right
relationship of the buildings toeach other within the construct
of a community's available land, preserving natural features,
(26:10):
cultural sites, but trying tocreate some sort of denser
environment so that if you haveto drive your car you can go to
one place and then walk to therest of them, that those
services are actually in walkingdistance from your house, so
that you're not having to driveeverywhere back and forth.
So it's that bigger thinkingthat interested me, that brought
(26:32):
me to my graduate degree, butagain, it's that relationship
between how do you think aboutanything from an individual room
to an entire reservation system, so that everything reinforces
a sense of success.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
And speaking of the sense of success, I understand
that you had a lecture at theGraduate School of Design which
focused on culture, communityand environmental justice and
contemporary indigenous design.
Could you share a briefoverview and outline of the
lecture and how you believe thatthese elements are crucial in
shaping the future of indigenousdesign?
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Yeah, so I get the honor to be asked to speak and
be part of different designreviews at a couple different
institutions.
A while back I did speak atFerrari, but I came back from
the context of not like, this isall my work, here's pretty
pictures, some sort of graduatestory hat in the back.
But it was more about trying tolike, inspire people who are
(27:39):
there, who may be graduating,understanding that there's
different paths than going totry to get out there in
architecture to just do a workbuilding or just do something
that looks cool or makes money,but that you really can have an
impact and that you can have animpact on many different ways.
So when I talk aboutarchitecture, my experiences, I
(28:00):
do talk about a lot of thethings that you've asked me
about, like how do you evenstart and what are the reasons
why you might become anarchitect?
What are the reasons why acommunity needs architecture?
What are the differentinterrelated, social, cultural,
economic identity aspects thathelp create that larger purpose
(28:22):
and meaning for creating anenvironment?
And so I often think about theexperience of a young child
waking up and what is theirexperience in that day.
Did they have a warm bed?
Did they have a familystructure that greeted them with
(28:43):
a smile, were they able to eat?
And if they're going to school,what do they see when they
first walk outside of their door?
Do they see a beautifulcommunity with culture and
people walking and alsoopportunity?
And that's the vision thattribal communities have all over
the country.
It's, how do we create that typeof pride and dignity in our
(29:08):
environment?
Again, we were detached fromeven the control of our built
environment for so many yearsbecause there are so few
architects that are nativearound the country.
There's so few people who arein the landscape or engineering
that help impact it, in spite ofthe fact that it plays such an
(29:29):
important role in our lives.
Every day we're in a buildingand every day we're going from
one building to another.
Every person listening here issomehow being impacted by the
environment that they're in, andI always like to think about
that.
We shape as designers.
We shape our environment, butreally the way to think about it
(29:52):
is under the same impact thatour environment shapes us and
our environment shapes everyone.
So what can we create so thatthat environment inspires that
dignity and health and wellnessand opportunity for people in
our communities now, butespecially in future generations
?
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Beautiful.
Thank you so much for sharingthat, Sam.
Reflecting on your nativeupbringing and the mentors who
instill this sense of value, howdo you mentor and inspire the
next generation of indigenousarchitects and planners?
Speaker 2 (30:26):
Mentorship is so important, and I can think of so
many examples of people whosaid one little thing that they
didn't even know they said, andit gave me either pride or
confidence to do this, and I waslucky enough to have people
around me who maybe believe Icould do anything I wanted.
So that's part of what I want togive back to others.
(30:48):
One effort that I'm working onnow, and this is with the other
one of two native architects inMinnesota.
His name is Mike Labrador atDSGW, and he's spearheading the
idea of an indigenous designcamp, and so we've been waiting
over the past couple months totry to develop and promote a
(31:12):
design camp in the Twin Citieshere for people who might be
interested or who don't knowabout the field of architecture,
design and planning andlandscape, so that they can see
that there are two people wholook like them working in our
community that they can do it.
There's a lot of differentreasons maybe why people don't
(31:33):
get into the design professionsas native people, but one of the
things that me and Mike andother native architects around
the country do is we always makesure that we talk to people.
We talk to the schools andother people in the communities.
We all focus on communityengagement in that sense of like
yeah, we're designing thistogether.
(31:54):
So that mentorship, you knowthat mentorship even that word
kind of sounds top down, butit's really being a resource and
being, you know, leading byexample and just doing it.
So just people seeing it,people seeing buildings come up
out of nothing, just like I sawwhen I was four or five years
(32:15):
old, and say, wow, that justhappened.
And here I am, decades lateractually doing it.
So it's instilling that senseof belief in others and helping
them now chart a path to getthere, because when I was little
there were no native architectsthat I was aware of.
I didn't actually meet anarchitect until I went to
(32:36):
architecture school, and so if Ican provide at least
opportunities or paths, or evenif they're related fields, then
that's one way of hopefullyimpacting, you know, generations
of architects that are nativeto come.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
And what advice would you have for those aspiring to
follow in your footsteps?
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Well, it's, you know, find.
Think about the impact, and I'mgoing to go back to that.
One thing that I focus on isthink about the impact of
creating places where people cansucceed, and that can be in any
field really, from a builtenvironment, being involved in
(33:26):
those discussions about what'simportant to a community, being
involved in the discussions ofhow do you give that form in
life.
And you can be involved in thisthrough planning or financing
or being a leader in theorganization that hires an
architect.
There's so many different waysyou can be part of getting
things built and done and doingit from an indigenous
(33:49):
perspective, involving people,and it's really about capacity
building in a community.
It's a generational thing.
There were no native architects.
Now there's a couple, nextgeneration, hopefully, there's a
handful and hopefully even moreas we go on.
So it's just really thinkingabout that.
This we're in a continuity of awhole lot of different forces,
(34:13):
so I'm just one piece of what awhole lot of people set up for
me in my community to make mesucceed, and we need to do that
and give that back to the peoplewho are going to come after us.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
Well speaking of the next generation as a final
question of the show and atradition of future construct,
if you could project yourselfout 25 years and wanted to have
any device or technology thatwould benefit you personally,
what would it be and what wouldit do?
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Yes, it's a great question.
I think one of the bigquestions in the field of
architecture is what AIartificial intelligence is going
to do, because you canliterally Teleprogram, design a
building with this many, yeah,units of housing, and its four
stories, and it's made out ofwood and it'll pop something up.
(35:01):
It's it's it's kind ofinteresting and it's kind of
scary and it's kind of it's abig question.
And so how's that going toimpact the way our communities
get built?
And so, if the technology isthere, I would love for that
technology to give power andopportunity for communities to
(35:24):
Design for themselves, designtheir own places, to have that
impact on what they do.
And so that technology it, ifit creates that sense of
excitement and opportunity andWays for people to envision
Buildings, communities.
I think that's what I lookforward to.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Yeah, what a great view lens to view that, that
that technology from Well, sam,I've really enjoyed our
conversation and I've learned somuch from you.
Thank you so much for yourdedication to see it to the
indigenous community and foryour years of success and the
impact that you've had on theindustry.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
Yeah well, thank you.
That's a good thing to talkabout, and Having discussions
about future of community is isis so important, and so I'm
inviting Everyone to reach outto me or, you know, have this
important discussions acommunity about what's gonna
Make a better place for everyone.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
Fantastic.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Sam Appreciate you Go ahead, just thank you.
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