[Tawaw] Welcome, there is room

Embracing community, co-creation and cultural co-existence toward a resilient future.

ᒫᒪᐃᐧ [mâmawi] Go further, together.

Tawaw Architecture Collective. Inc. (‘Tawaw’) is a design-research firm that specializes in Indigenous design, planning, landscapes and engagement. We are based in Phoenix and Calgary, and work across North America (USA and Canada). The firm’s mission is to increase understanding, inclusiveness, and authenticity in the field, while uplifting under-examined ancestral worldviews and value systems.

Chippewa of Thames First Nation Heritage Hub | Ontario, Canada | Schematic Design | Government

Architecture

We start each project with the ingenuity of our earth's blessings combined with the ancestral connections to a place: sun paths, directionality, climatic understanding, geology, landscape/landforms, and local tectonics/forms/archetypes.

ᐅᓯᐦᒋᑫᐃᐧᐣ [osihcikewin]

Interiors

To move away from generic toward contextual solutions, our team includes local artists, cultural bearers, knowledge keepers, Elders and youth, who help us uplift and embed narratives into a project. Custom interior installations, done in association with artists, are available.

ᐱᐦᑐᑲᒥᐠ [pihtokamik]

Engagement

The firm has developed a highly collaborative approach to design that aims to enlarge the community’s role in the planning and designing of urban and rural environments. The activities can accommodate large groups of 500, small focus groups or one-on-one sessions.

ᐲᑭᐢᑳᐧᓱᐁᐧᐃᐧᐣ [pîkiskwâsowewin]

Mentorship

TAWAW employs a team of young indigenous designers, who are mentored by award-winning architects and collaborating teams. We are also impacting the higher education pipeline as we bring our young indigenous design team to inspire Indigenous youth towards careers in architecture.

ᑭᐢᑭᓄᐦᐊᒫᑫᐃᐧᐣ [kiskinohamâkewin]

Data-Driven Storytelling

The firm continues to innovate in terms of design methodologies, including finding ways to honor Indigenous narratives. We are exploring ethically-driven and value-based design-research methods including Data Coding, Data Visualization and Augmented Reality.

ᐋᒋᒧᐢᑕᑫᐃᐧᐣ [âcimostakewin]

Place-Based Research

There has been ample writing on Indigenous peoples, but it has not been by and for Indigenous people. TAWAW has a team of Design Researchers to ensure pre-colonial histories are available in the design process.

ᓇᑐᓂᑫᐃᐧᐣ [natonikewin]

Speaking

The TAWAW team welcomes invitations to speak at events or join you for a workshop, to share our inclusive and value-based design-research methods.

ᐲᑭᐢᑫᐧᐃᐧᐣ [pîkiskwewin]

Training

Tawaw is an open sharing platform, aiming to remove barriers that stand in the way of meaningful collaboration with Indigenous peoples. We have training modules and ambassadors to guide you through engagement and Indigenous design.

ᓭᓴᐁᐧᐃᐧᐣ [sesawewin]

ᑲᓀᓱᑎᐯᔨᐦᑕᒥᕁ [kanesotipeyihtamihk] To share;

Join us in our design-research activities

publications

monographs

design den

news

conferences

links

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