Wanda Dalla Costa is a practicing architect and professor who has been co-designing with North American indigenous communities for nearly two decades.[1] Her teaching and research focuses include indigenous place-keeping, culturally responsive design, sustainable housing, and climate resiliency in architecture.[2][3] Dalla Costa currently teaches at Arizona State University as Institute Professor and associate professor in The Design School and the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment.[4][1] She is a member of Saddle Lake Cree Nation and the first First Nations woman architect in Canada.[1] She is founding principal and owner of the firm, Redquill Architecture Inc., which is based in Phoenix, Arizona. She was one of eighteen indigenous architects representing Canada in the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018.[2][5]
Wanda Dalla Costa's mother is one of six children and is from Saddle Lake First Nation, Alberta. All but one of the children went to residential school. Her grandfather is from Goodfish Lake, Alberta and her grandmother is from Saddle Lake, Alberta.[3]
In 1990, she began a formative backpacking journey through Australia and New Zealand. Although the trip was intended to be a gap year abroad, her travels continued for seven years and included thirty-seven countries. Dallas Costa earned her master's degree in Design Research in the department of City Design, Planning and Policy from Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) and another master's degree in architecture from the University of Calgary. She has a Bachelor's of Arts in Sociology and Native Studies from University of Alberta.
She also teaches at Arizona State University (ASU) as both an Institute Professor and associate professor. Dalla Costa's teaching includes interdisciplinary service learning studios. She is also the founding director of the Indigenous Design Collaborative at ASU which carries out design and design-build projects with local tribes in Arizona.[7] The collaborative makes connections between tribal community members, multidisciplinary ASU students and faculty, and industry.
2017, Buckminster Fuller Catalyst Program Finalist[6]
2017, MacArthur 100 & Change (top 17%; invited to the Buckmister Fuller Catalyst Program)[6]
Publications
Dalla Costa, W. (2018 in press). “Teaching Indigeneity in Architecture: Indigenous Placekeeping Framework.” In Kiddle, R., Stewart. L.P & O’Brien, K. (eds). Our Voices: Indigeneity and Architecture, ORO Editions, New York, NY, USA: 146–153.[4]
Dalla Costa, W. (2018 in press). “Metrics and margins: Envisioning frameworks in Indigenous architecture in Canada.” In Grant, E., Greenop, K. & Refiti, A. (eds). Handbook of Contemporary Indigenous Architecture. 2017, Springer International, The University of Adelaide, Sydney, Australia: 193–221.[4][10]
Dalla Costa, W. (2011) "An emerging narrative: Aboriginal contributions to Canadian architecture". pp.356–379 In: Voyageur, C. J., D. R. Newhouse and D. Beavon eds., Hidden in Plain Sight: Contributions of Aboriginal Peoples to Canadian Identity and Culture. University of Toronto Press. Toronto, Canada. ISBN978-1442610125.[10]
Dalla Costa, W. (2016) “Contextualized Metrics and Narrating Binaries: Defining Place and Process in Indigenous North America,” A Conference paper presented at Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), 2016 International Conference. Santiago, Chile.[4]
Dalla Costa W. (2017) “Housing Equity and Heat Vulnerability: A Case Study for Indigenous Design and Construction.” In: M. Young (ed.), AMPS Proceedings Series 9. Living and Sustainability: An Environmental Critique of Design and Building Practices, Locally and Globally. London South Bank University, London, 08 – 9 February 2017. pp: 543–554.[4]
Costa, Wanda Dalla, et al. “Unique Features of Conducting Construction Activities Within Tribal Communities.” Construction Research Congress 2018, pp.233–42.[11]
Dalla Costa, Wanda. “Indigenous Futurity and Architecture: Rewriting the Urban Narrative.” Architecture Australia, vol. 109, no. 2, 2020, pp.56–58.[12]
Selected projects
Name
City
US State/
Country
Completed
Other Information
Image
Hayden Library Welcome Wall and Labriola Table[13]
Tempe
Arizona
2019-2020
Designed and Built for Indigenous People's Space (IPS)
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