The Oak Savanna and ITECK Center: The Voices at the Intersection of ITECK and Architecture Series
August 2, 2024 | Ron Acob and Sergio Palleroni (Center for Public Interest Design)| Photo Credit by Ron Acob
Portland, Oregon (August, 2 2024) In partnership with the Indigenous Nation Studies Department’s Indigenous Traditional Ecological and Cultural Knowledge (ITECK) Program, Portland State University’s School of Architecture and the Center for Public Interest Design (CPID), the Design for the Common Good Network (DCGN) is thrilled to announce the launch of The Oak Savanna and ITECK Center: The Voices at the Intersection of Indigenous Traditional Ecological and Cultural Knowledge and Architecture. This limited, two-episode podcast series is set to debut on August 2, 2024, and promises to deliver insightful discussion and captivating stories about the Oak Savanna and ITECK Center at Portland State University from Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders, architects, educators, students and more.
The Oak Savanna and ITECK Center: The Voices at the Intersection of ITECK and Architecture Series will focus on interdisciplinary efforts to rethink approaches to research, design, student engagement, and placemaking through a unique collaboration between Portland State University’s Indigenous Nations Studies Department’s ITECK Program and the School of Architecture on a landscape and building project. The series is hosted by Ron Acob, a Design Corps Fellow with the Center for Public Interest Design and editor with the Design for the Common Good Network,
Since 2011, Judy Bluehorse Skelton has worked on the project site known as the PSU Oak Savanna with Indigenous Studies students in an effort to learn about and restore Native habitat to the PSU Campus. The site is dedicated to the relationship between the First People and the Native vegetation of Oak Savannas, and a vision for the site developed to create a minimally-managed outdoor classroom and community gathering building that shares the natural history of the Willamette Valley that offers space for reflection and healing, creates wildlife habitat, and demonstrates Indigenous land practices for food, medicine, art, and ceremony.
In 2021, Professor Palleroni invited architecture faculty and students to engage with Indigenous Studies faculty and students to develop ideas for an ITECK Center on the Oak Savanna through design studios, seminars, and fieldwork opportunities.
Building upon the collaborations to date, the PSU School of Architecture and Center for Public Interest Design are using this opportunity to examine the role of the architect to center Indigenous knowledge toward more equitable and resilient communities and ecologies, and to reimagine an architecture pedagogy informed and transformed by Indigenous Traditional Ecological and Cultural Knowledge. This series will explore lessons learned to date through this effort, concepts driving this work such as un-building and culturally-specific design, and challenges in overcoming the dominant narratives of contemporary education and professional practice.
“It is my honor and privilege to collaborate on this series with Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders, educators, mentors, students, and other partners within Indigenous Nations Studies Department’s ITECK Program and CPID at Portland State University, School of Architecture. This project has been a continuous process of building relationships, observing, learning from two departments, and even unlearning for everyone. The Oak Savanna and ITECK Center Project has contributed to paradigm shifts in interdisciplinary education, architecture, design, and beyond.” -Ron Acob
Listen to the Limited Series Here:
Podcast Schedule:
August 2, 2024 – Episode 01: Introduction to the Oak Savanna and Indigenous Traditional Ecological and Cultural Knowledge (ITECK) Center. Our storytellers from the ITECK Program at Portland State University will introduce listeners to the story of the Oak Savanna and ITECK Center and explore various topics, including the relational worldview, the ITECK Certificate Program, and explore what lies at the intersection of ITECK and Architecture.
TBD – Episode 02: Our storytellers from the School of Architecture at Portland State University will introduce listeners to the Center for Public Interest Design and explore various topics which include interdisciplinary education and collaborations in design, academic design-build as well as opportunities, challenges, and lessons learned from the Oak Savanna and ITECK Center.
Website Links:
Indigenous Traditional Ecological and Cultural Knowledge- https://www.pdx.edu/indigenous-nations-studies/iteck
PSU Oak Savanna – https://www.pdx.edu/indigenous-nations-studies/psu-oak-savanna
Center for Public Interest Design –https://www.centerforpublicinterestdesign.org/
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