year

2022

client

Chippewa Of The Thames First Nation

location

Chippewa Of The Thames First Nation, Ontario, Canada

TAWAW role

Architectural Design

architect of record

Tawaw Architecture Collective Inc.

1

Background

Protect and Preserve

 

At this time of reconciliation and healing in Canada, the Heritage Hub project aims to protect and preserve Chippewas of Thames ways of knowing, while also improving access to cultural lifeways and increasing economic development for the local community.

2

Approach

Earth-embedded Structure

 

Through engagement, the community shared their traditions of mound building as well as affinity for the natural landscape, which inspired the form and siting of the structure embedded in the earth. The earth offers protection from cold Canadian climate.

4

number of community engagements
3

Impact

Social and Community Cohesion


The Heritage Hub will serve four complementary functions: a cultural center, a governance building, guest accommodations, and cultural grounds, which include three fires that represent community, council, and demonstration. Cultural associations include traditional woodland patterning, the clan system, and local constellation teachings including the concept of thirteen moons.

Awards

Honorary Fellow


The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada is proud to announce that Wanda Dalla Costa, a prominent Indigenous voice and practitioner in North American architecture, has been awarded honorary fellowship for 2022. Wanda Dalla Costa is a member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation and was the first First Nation woman to become an architect in Canada. Her firm, Tawaw Architecture Collective, is based in Phoenix, Arizona. She is the director and founder of Arizona State University’s Indigenous Design Collaborative, a community-driven design and construction program that brings together tribal community members, industry and multidisciplinary teams of university students and faculty to co-design and co-develop solutions for tribal communities. Dalla Costa is a prominent Indigenous female voice within the architectural profession–specifically within the academic sphere in North America.
Awards

YBCA's 100 Honorees: Wanda Dalla Costa


Indigenous Design Collaborative's founder and design director Wanda Dalla Costa was recognized as YBCA 100 list of change makers and cultural activists working at the intersection of art, social change and civic life.
Awards

Trailblazer Award: Wanda Dalla Costa


Presented this year as part of NZ20, the world's largest net zero conference and expo, the Trailblazer Awards celebrate leaders who are building a net zero future through their work in the carbon, energy, water, waste, transit and/or policy sectors.
Awards

St. Lawrence Center Competition Award 2023

Awards

Jeff Harnar Award
Unbuilt Architecture 2021

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