New ARchitecture on Indigenous Lands
By Joy Monice Malnar and Frank Vodvarka

The authors note that their scholarly process included identifying buildings that exhibit and personify Native cultures and the building traditions of those cultures; it is fair to say that Malnar and Vodvarka succeeded in their task. The authors have produced a scholarly record of twentieth and twenty-first century indigenous architecture projects that express the theme of social and cultural influence, past and present, on the architectural design process… Topics such as design precedent, the use and need for alternate building materials, to discussions of space and sensory expectations and the cooperative design processes that were totally void of western design paradigms and design aesthetics of the individual architects and firms are reiterated throughout each chapter…Each chapter contains a nice balance between visual content and critical discussion. Visuals include black and white and color historical and current photographs of the exteriors and interiors of the structures as well as plans, sections, elevations and models of the projects. The primary and secondary source references that the authors include from the architects and firms involved in the projects leave little room for misinterpretation of the design expectations set forth by the Native clients. These quotes and references enhance the critical discussion of the design process and also inspire further inquiry and understanding of related, multidisciplinary fields, such as history and ethnography, which played roles in the design and project planning.—Hillary B. Veeder, Public Services Librarian
Texas Tech University Libraries