Notice Board

Architecture & Design NOW presents Brett MacIntyre (Xuut’a K’ii)
Designing on Turtle Island: Considerations for Indigenous Architecture
6 pm | October 5, 2020
uLethbridge Online Presentation

Please register at: uleth.ca/tickets. Registration is required as we need to provide you with secure access information prior to the start of the event. 

Join Brett MacIntyre as he discusses the major themes that their office, Checkwitch Poiron Architects, tries to keep in mind while designing projects with Indigenous communities; from the abstract ideas of ambiguity, transformation and temporality, to more concrete themes like the importance of community consultation and the challenges of working with corporate clients on Indigenous land. He'll be presenting work from their office, and sharing stories from his experiences working with incredibly talented Indigenous artists and architects in Canada and Scandinavia.

Biography

Brett is a registered architect in Vancouver B.C and a non-status member of the Haida Nation. His interest in architecture is rooted in his passion for the development of modern Indigenous architecture that resonates with cultural identity of the community it serves. Moving to the west coast of Canada after high school allowed him to develop his fascination with Indigenous art and culture while studying Art History at the University of Victoria. This fascination carried through into his architectural studies, where his graduate thesis, “Memory and Myth: Storytelling as a Design Tool for a Youth Camp in Haida Gwaii” was awarded the Dalhousie School of Architecture Thesis Prize.

Following graduation, Brett was awarded the Canada Council for the Arts Prix de Rome for Emerging Practitioners, enabling him to travel to Northern Scandinavia to study with the Saami, an indigenous group native to the area. His exhibition, “Lessons from Lappland: Pragmatism, Temporality and the Challenge of Icons in Indigenous Architecture” further developed his goal of fostering meaningful discussion around the creation of sincere modern indigenous architecture.

Brett currently works at Checkwitch Poiron Architects in Vancouver, BC. He has also worked with the Indigenous Placemaking Council and the RAIC Indigenous Design Task Force to promote the development of Indigenous Architecture and Architects in Canada.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts. Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien.

Image credit: Checkwitch Poiron Architects Inc.