Where: Portland, OR (USA)

When: Spring 2025

Role: Consultant, Adjunct Faculty & Co-Instructor with Molly Esteve

Program: Design-build Studio at Portland State University

Partners: Opsis Architecture, PLACE Landscape Architecture

Photos Credits: Images and graphics generated by PSU students during the studio

In Spring 2025, as a design consultant with Opsis Architecture, I supported an interdisciplinary design-build studio focused on developing student-led proposals for the Indigenous Traditional Ecological & Cultural Knowledge (ITECK) Center and the Oak Savannah site at Portland State University. Working in collaboration with Indigenous partners, faculty, and design professionals, students explored how architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design can celebrate Indigenous Traditional Ecological and Cultural Knowledge through thoughtful, low-impact interventions. The studio emphasized an iterative, community-engaged design process in which students translated community needs into schematic design proposals, communicated ideas through diverse representational media, incorporated stakeholder feedback, and developed buildable prototypes aligned with Living Building Challenge principles. Through site visits, critiques, prototyping, and cross-disciplinary collaboration, students gained hands-on experience designing with the local community while deepening their understanding of ecological stewardship, cultural knowledge, and the social responsibilities of design.