Leadership in Research
Wanda Dalla Costa, PhD
Principal
AIA,AAA, FRAIC, LEED A.P.,BA
Wanda Dalla Costa is an architect and scholar dedicated to exploring the relationship between Indigenous peoples and their environments. She is the first First Nations woman to become a registered architect in Canada and is the creator of the Indigenous Placekeeping Framework™—a place-based, process-oriented methodology rooted in community knowledge and cultural protocols. This framework guides the design of meaningful spaces that promote Indigenous presence and cross-cultural understanding.
At Arizona State University, she serves as an Institute Professor and Associate Professor in both The Design School and the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment. She also founded the Indigenous Design Collaborative, connecting students, faculty, and tribal communities in co-creating design solutions that are grounded in Indigenous worldviews.
Through her firm, Tawaw Architecture Collective, Dalla Costa brings the Indigenous Placekeeping Framework into practice. Notable projects include the Wampum Learning Lodge at Western University and a healing residence for the Native American Rehabilitation Association of the Northwest (NARA)—both rooted in the cultural values and needs of the communities they serve.
Select Publications & Contributions
“Indigenous Spatial Agency,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 2022
“Teaching Indigeneity in Architecture,” in Our Voices: Indigeneity and Architecture, ORO Editions, 2018
“An Emerging Narrative: Aboriginal Contributions to Canadian Architecture,” University of Toronto Press, 2011
“Housing Equity and Heat Vulnerability,” AMPS Proceedings Series, London, 2017
“Design, when rooted in Indigenous knowledge, becomes a vehicle for healing, resilience, and continuity.” — Wanda Dalla Costa
Tawaw Research Brochures
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Indigenous Trauma-Informed Design:
Creating Healing Spaces through Community and Culture
This research explores how trauma-informed design (TID) can be redefined through Indigenous knowledge systems, cultural identity, and land-based practices. Rooted in community collaboration and storytelling, the project identifies strategies that support holistic healing and well-being in architecture. By integrating Indigenous worldviews with evidence-based design, it offers a framework for creating culturally safe, resilient, and regenerative spaces across healthcare, housing, and public environments.
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Indigenous Placekeeping:
Campus Design and Planning at ASU
This publication documents a student-led, community-centered design studio at Arizona State University focused on honoring the 22 tribes of Arizona through Indigenous placekeeping strategies. Rooted in Indigenous design principles, the project proposes culturally responsive interventions across ASU’s four campuses—including multilingual signage, storytelling pavilions, and centers for cultural leadership. Guided by a framework of community-led, place-based, reciprocal, and process-oriented research, the work reimagines institutional spaces through Indigenous worldviews, fostering cultural continuity and spatial justice.
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Reclaiming Space: Indigenizing K–12 Education Through Design
This research explores how Indigenous communities are transforming the built environment of schools to reflect their cultures, values, and ways of learning. By reclaiming physical space through culturally grounded architecture, land-based pedagogy, and intergenerational knowledge-sharing, Indigenous-led design challenges colonial legacies in education. These reimagined learning environments foster belonging, cultural pride, and academic success—offering models for education systems that support the holistic well-being of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students.
