Dr. Patrick Reid Stewart

The Promise of Architecture

Indigenous communities around the world are experiencing the promise of architecture youth are discovering architecture in growing numbers it is fast becoming a community changer though we are but yet a fraction of the total number of architects in any one of our countries I am hopeful that we will play a pivotal role in our communities as our communities ground themselves in their culture language spirituality and humanity we need a call to prayer to ceremony we can as architects facilitate indigenous knowledge into the community vision for a built environment that is at once respectful, relational, relevant, reflective, reciprocal, redistributive and responsible we must come together support each other and together create a better future for our youth who live in communities that experience poor drinking water do not have access to medical services education appropriate housing and struggle with the trauma from the past seven generations that continues to feed our communities together we can change our communities together we must for the sake of our own survival and that of the seven generations into the future our home is our world and we must be leaders.

BIO

Dr Stewart’s name in Nisga’a is Luugigyoo. He has a PhD from the University of British Columbia and a MArch from McGill University and, most recently, an Associate Professor at the McEwen School of Architecture at Laurentian University. He is Chair of the Indigenous Task Force of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and Chair of the Provincial Aboriginal Homelessness Committee in British Columbia on Canada’s west coast. He continues his architectural practice since 1995.