Wanda Dalla Costa

Wanda Dalla Costa, Architect, AIA, LEED A.P.

• Institute Professor, The Design School, Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
• Associate Professor, Del E. Webb School of Construction, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment
• Senior Sustainability Scientist, Global Institute of Sustainability
• Design Director and Founder, Indigenous Design Collaborative

Wanda Dalla Costa, AIA, LEED A.P. is an architect and member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation who holds a joint position at ASU in architecture and construction. She founded the Indigenous Design Collaborative, which functions similar to a community design center, where students co-design projects with tribal communities.

Topic: Honoring Place & Space

Indigenous Placekeeping or Indigenous Design Thinking is about creating an inclusive approach to design. The nation-centric method prioritizes the cultural setting, negotiates an expanded role of citizen experts and utilizes Indigenous methodologies to instill local narrative to a project. Compatible with ASU’s eight design aspirations, we should consider how we prioritize historical understanding, community-driven metrics, Indigenous design thinking, technological innovation, local vernacular intelligence, holistic systems solutions thinking, and collaboration with local practitioners.