Braiding Past, Present, & Future: Honoring Standing Rock Culture through Design

SAGE Development Authority is in the process of envisioning a cultural center on the Standing Rock Nation. The innovative project ensures the project is rooted in culture, ecology, and site. Growing up on Standing Rock, Celina Brownotter has a deep commitment to the community and the land. This presentation will explore community engagement strategies, environmental considerations, and the design process that guided the project. Attendees will learn about the challenges and successes of integrating traditional knowledge with contemporary design practices to create a space that promotes healing, unity, and cultural continuity for the Standing Rock Nation.

Speakers:
Celina Brownotter, Architectural Designer, MASS Design Group

Moderator:
Anjelica S. Gallegos, Co-Founder, Director, ISAPD

About the Speakers:
Celina Brownotter is a Hunkpapa Lakota and Diné designer who is passionate about collaborating and engaging with Native communities to create innovative design. Having grown up on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, she is a steadfast advocate for place-based design, firmly believing in the transformative power of a built environment that seamlessly integrates with its natural surroundings, cultivating healing, unity, and cultural resonance.

Brownotter holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Design from Montana State University Bozeman. At MASS Design Group, she contributes to the overall design of various projects through the Sustainable Native Communities Design Lab in O’ga P’ogeh, also known as Santa Fe, New Mexico. The variety of projects reflects her commitment to fostering deep collaboration and engagement within Native communities.

Beyond her work at MASS, her personal research focuses on how the integration of culture, beliefs, and traditions can have a positive impact on Lakota tribal housing, advancing the discourse on culturally conscious design. Brownotter's interests extend to art-related fields, evidenced by her recent involvement in "We Carry the Land," which introduces an oscillating experience of the sacred and intimate through material and structural engagements designed with five other emerging Native professionals.

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