Q: Tell us about your organization:

The Indigenous Society of Architecture, Planning and Design (ISAPD) is an organization focused on increasing international knowledge, consciousness, and appreciation of Indigenous architecture, planning, and design, inclusive of landscape architecture and environmental design, in academia and the professional realm. ISAPD works toward fundamentally supporting and increasing the representation of American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, First Nations, Aboriginal Australians, Māori, and other Indigenous Scholars and Peoples in these fields.

The Indigenous Society of Architecture, Planning and Design organization aims to:

• Form and have access to an active network of Indigenous architects, planning and design professionals

• Promote architecture as a viable profession in Indigenous communities

• Foster national and local dialogue on architecture and Indigenous culture through publication

• Be an active source of resourcefulness and inspiration for Indigenous youth

• Collaborate with tribal, academic, and local community groups

• Create opportunities to spotlight Indigenous practitioners

• Curate curriculum sources and materials for all levels of education

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Q: Highlight one recent initiative / program / exhibition: ‍

Celina Brownotter, Freeland Livingston, Selina Martinez, Bobby Joe Smith III, Zoë Toledo, and ISAPD co-founder, Anjelica S. Gallegos came together in 2024 to design We Carry the Land. The installation is an architectural exploration of space, time, and form born from an alignment of varied Indigenous foundational ways of being.

The installation is made possible by Materials & Applications (M_A); a Los Angeles based organization that “curates critical exhibitions and commissions new work by under-recognized architects, designers, and artists.”

Find out about the closing event, hosted by M_A at the Craft Contemporary courtyard, on September 7th below: https://www.materialsandapplications.org/programs?tag=We+Carry+the+Land

As part of the We Carry the Land programming, ISAPD hosted a collaborative public workshop with M&A x Craft Contemporary on June 29 that explored concepts of ancestral geography and mapping Indigenous futurity. Led by ISAPD Region Director Miriam Diddy and local Los Angeles-based artist River Garza, the participants joined in a conversation revealing ancestral thinking, Indigenous planning, and design practices informed by both tangible and intangible cultural elements that reinforce sovereignty, collective power, and futurity. Following the conversation, the workshop participants created personal maps to their ancestors using their own language, memories, experiences, and understanding of place. The new cartographers learned how to utilize spray paint, stenciling, and drawing to create their own Indigenous-based mapmaking practices.    

To learn more about the workshop, visit the program announcement here.

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Q: What is something about your organization that most people don’t know/unfamiliar with?‍

The ISAPD organization consists of both professional members and student members. Becoming a member or establishing a chapter gives Indigenous scholars and those interested in supporting Indigenous architecture, planning, and design the opportunity to connect and collaborate with other Indigenous scholars and communities across varied lands and waters.

ISAPD believes the cross-pollination of Indigenous and non-Indigenous members is vital to propelling Indigenous architecture and all architecture into a future of true sustainability. ISAPD membership consists of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous members. ISAPD Chapters are led by Indigenous ISAPD members.

Full members are professionals with a commitment to Indigenous architecture and planning and have acquired an accredited Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Planning, or Environmental Design degree. Full members have a tribal affiliation.  

Associate members are professionals with a commitment to Indigenous architecture, planning, and design who have a degree in any field. Associate members must have a tribal affiliation.

Fellow members are professionals who have a commitment to Indigenous architecture, planning, and design and may or may not have a degree in any field. Fellow members may or may not have a tribal affiliation.

ISAPD membership is free.  

Interested in signing up as a member or want to start a chapter? Find out more here.

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Q: How does your organization’s mission intersect with Archtober’s mission?‍

Our mission is to celebrate architecture and design, deepening our relationships with the places we inhabit.

Like Archtober, ISAPD also celebrates architecture and design. Architecture, planning, and design have the ability to solve simple and complex issues, and has the potential to bring communities closer to the natural environment. Deepening relationships to the places we inhabit, includes knowing the Indigenous history and contemporary tribal connections to the site. It also includes acknowledging and seeking to understand the site’s memory.  

ISAPD supports Indigenous students and professionals, and those who value Indigenous knowledge systems. By building a network and supportive opportunities for Indigenous scholars, ISAPD seeks to ensure that Indigenous architectural knowledge is uplifted, particularly in spaces that have historically failed to recognize it. ISAPD emboldens future generations of Indigenous communities across many lands and waters to access an architectural education.

Collectively, we can begin to envision a path of rekindling connections with natural environments and, utilizing traditional ecological knowledge to create balance between all living elements. ISAPD supports education and ideation to expand the possibilities of the built environment and to ultimately elevate Indigenous architectural sovereignty.