Join us in welcoming our newest Intern, Elizabeth Valdez!
Elizabeth grew up on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Ethete, Wyoming, and is an enrolled member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe. She is also affiliated with the Hunkpapa Lakota Tribe from the Standing Rock Reservation. Elizabeth graduated from Haskell Indian Nations University with an Associate of Liberal Arts degree in 2022 and is currently in her third year at the University of Kansas School of Architecture and Design.
"In my free time, I enjoy participating in events at Haskell Indian Nations University, such as powwows, art markets, fashion shows, and round dances."
Ground Breaking!
Na-Tehesieme Sustainable Development
Taos Pueblo, NM
On Wednesday, June 18, Taos Pueblo broke ground on the first phase of the Na-Tehesieme Sustainable Development. Designed by Ferguson Pyatt Architects, the 50 acre project includes single-family affordable homes for homeownership, senior housing and assisted living, multifamily affordable rentals, home sites for individual development, open space, a trail network, community gardens, a future 3000 sf community center, playground space, and retail spaces in an interconnected, healthy, and culturally supportive community! #tribalhousing #
Mass Timber Cabins Developed by Ferguson Pyatt Architects In Production
Ferguson Pyatt has developed a series of small prefabricated cabins constructed from mass timber panels and intended for remote locations. Currently in production.
For immediate release: Pyatt Studio + BNIM Selected for Design of Lower Sioux Intergenerational Cultural Incubator
Pyatt Studio + BNIM Selected for Design of Lower Sioux Intergenerational Cultural Incubator
KANSAS CITY, Mo (December 14, 2018) — The collaborative design team of Pyatt Studio and BNIM Architects was selected to lead the design of the Lower Sioux Intergenerational Cultural Incubator (LSICI) in Morton, Minnesota. Pyatt Studio is based in Boulder, Colorado, and BNIM is based in Kansas City, Missouri.
The purpose of the LSICI is to strategically promote intergenerational engagement, cultural transmission, and economic well-being at the Lower Sioux Indian Community. The incubator will feature community gathering spaces for youth, adults, and elders while supporting entrepreneurial development and education. The project will be realized through a 17,000 square foot newly constructed facility, scheduled to be complete by October 2020.
A feasibility study completed in May 2018 outlined desired programming for the space based on feedback from community focus group discussions. These include: individual artist studios and shared arts studios for collaborative work and intergenerational transfer of knowledge; a public gallery space and retail space (with online selling platform); classrooms for entrepreneurial training; a commercial kitchen; computer lab with media room and radio station; a library; meeting spaces; dedicated activity spaces for each age group; and a large, shared community space that is open to the public for community gatherings and events.
“We are honored to have been selected for the Lower Sioux Intergenerational Cultural Incubator,” said Rob Pyatt, principal at Pyatt Studio. “This is truly an important project for the Lower Sioux Indian Community and we are excited to work alongside BNIM and our multi-disciplinary team to design a building that amplifies the opportunities of this new building typology."
“We’re really excited to be teamed with Rob and Pyatt Studio on another project,” said BNIM Principal Craig Scranton. “Our work together with tribal groups in South Dakota taught us a lot about developing plans and designing supportive environments for interconnected communities to share knowledge and build job skills.”
In fall 2016, recognizing the need to strengthen the well-being of the community, the Lower Sioux Tribe adopted a Strategic Plan with a ten-year goal: “To enhance our economic longevity and stability by utilizing our natural resources and community assets to improve the quality of life for the Dakota Oyate.” In fall 2017, the community completed a long-range Economic Development Strategic Plan, which includes a call for increased training and job opportunities at Lower Sioux. The proposed LSICI seeks to help achieve these long-range strategic economic and cultural goals.
ABOUT PYATT
At Pyatt Studio, we design buildings, places, and communities that provide a better quality of life for people. Our lens is wider. We believe that architecture is bigger than a single building, it’s a social art and political act built from profound relationships and hard work. We start earlier and end later; our bonds are deeper and our expectations higher. We build spaces around people, not the other way around. We bridge superior design with residents of every socioeconomic level, because a building is an opportunity to improve a family’s dignity, health, and well-being. Four pillars fuel our cause: people, place, craft, and community. For more information, visit www.pyattstudio.com.
ABOUT BNIM
BNIM’s core purpose is: “We deliver beautiful, integrated, living environments that inspire change and enhance the human condition.” The services we provide—architecture, interior design, landscape design, sustainability leadership and consulting, graphic design, and planning—are guided by this mission. BNIM has been recognized with more than 500 awards for exceptional design and thought leadership—including the 2011 AIA National Architecture Firm Award—and the firm has emerged nationally as a leading resource for established methodologies, innovative technologies, and cutting-edge research in architecture, planning, and landscape design. Through a process of integrated design, which is both an organized collaboration between disciplines and an interweaving and interconnectivity of building systems, our team creates designs that are both environmentally responsible and achieve the highest level of design excellence. For more information, visit www.bnim.com.
Thunder Valley Regenerative Community Development to be Featured in Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Exhibition in NYC
Thunder Valley Regenerative Community Plan to be Featured in Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Exhibition in NYC
PINE RIDGE INDIAN RESERVATION, May 3rd, 2016 –– The groundbreaking collaborative community design project, the Thunder Valley Regenerative Plan, has been selected as one of the 60 design projects to be featured in the By the People: Designing a Better America Exhibition this fall at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. The exhibition will run September 30th, 2016 through February 26th, 2017.
THE PROJECT & DESIGN TEAM
Years in the making, the Regenerative Plan is a visionary design collaboration between local Pine Ridge Indian Reservation community members, Oglala Lakota 501c3 non-profit organization Thunder Valley CDC, and architecture firms BNIM and Pyatt Studio, with essential support from KLJ Engineering and Studio NYL Structural Engineers. This project is Lakota culture materialized in a built environment –– an entire eco-friendly, climate change adaptable community built from the ground up with Lakota culture & values in mind. Informed by innovative, community driven architectural design and rooted in the voices and values of Lakota people, this project takes a comprehensive approach to creating systemic change on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The project’s Design Team reflects what is possible when collaboration is based on mutual respect and a shared vision for the future.
“The ancestors posed a challenge to us: ‘How long are you going to let others determine a future for your children? Are you not warriors? It is time to stop talking and start doing…Anything is possible, but you need to take action. The moment is here; the time is now.’” – Nick Tilsen, Thunder Valley CDC
Watch our animated video here:Building a Regenerative Community
Native American Sustainable Housing Intiative Finalist for the Architizer A+ Popular Choice Award.
We’re an A+Awards finalist - and you can help us become a winner! Vote for our project The Native American Sustainable Housing Initiative in the Plus Categories | Concepts: Architecture +Self Initiated Projects here The online public chooses theArchitizer A+ Popular Choice Award and public voting is open from Marc 15th to April 1st.
Pyatt Studio will present at The First International Conference on Rammed Earth Construction
Pyatt Studio will present the Casa Sanitas project at The First International Conference on Rammed Earth Construction.
The conference is hosted by The University of Western Australia and will bring together researchers, engineers and practitioners in order to communicate the latest developments in the design and analysis of rammed earth structures.
A two day workshop will be held at Trinity College at The University of Western Australia (UWA), aimed at communicating advances in the design and construction of rammed earth structures to engineers and practitioners.
Following the workshop, a two-day conference will be held in Margaret River, aimed at disseminating and discussing recent advances in rammed earth research. The Margaret River region is a relaxing and refreshing break from urban life which hosts the largest concentration of rammed earth buildings and structures in WA.
Secretary Castro Visits Straw-Bale Demonstration House on Pine Ridge Reservation
Secretary Castro Visits Straw-Bale Demonstration House on Pine Ridge Reservation
This past October, HUD Secretary Julián Castro visited the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota as part of his “listening tour,” when many of his first 100 days in office were spent learning about the needs of HUD’s constituents. The housing conditions he encountered at Pine Ridge revealed both hardship and promise.
Secretary Castro visited a 2-bedroom home shared by 13 people, but also toured a demonstration house developed by the University of Colorado Boulder Native American Sustainable Housing Initiative (NASHI), in cooperation with the Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation (CDC). Like other Sustainable Construction in Indian Country efforts you’ve read about here, NASHI is funded by HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R). The project also benefitted from the construction engineering and sustainable design expertise of PD&R staff.
Rob Pyatt to Serve on NEA Grant Panel
Rob Pyatt to Serve on National Endowment for the Arts Grant Panel
Rob Pyatt will serve the National Endowment for the Arts ART WORKS program as a grant panelist along with other artists and designers from across the country.