These are the slides from a recent webinar produced by the OAC and the AIA Housing Knowledge Community. This presentation was created by Jose Galarza of University of Utah. We learned how a group of graduate architecture students and faculty have engaged with the Navajo communities of the Utah Four Corners region to build capacity through full scale architectural projects. To view the full webinar visit our youtube channel here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg5IYhA3Nh4&feature=youtu.be

1. The Future of Community Engagement: Renewing the Capacity of Indigenous Communities to Serve Themselves

2. What is DesignBuildBLUFF?
Our Mission & VisionThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

6. Community Engaged Learning

7. Developing Resilient Practices

8. Authentic Learning Experiences

9. Landscape as Teaching Tool

10. Our Mission & Vision
Our Mission:
DesignBuildBLUFF is a non-profit administered out of the
University of Utah that exists to promote applied research in
contemporary rural architecture, regenerative design, and
appropriate technology; while building capacity in collaboration
with the Navajo and the Utah Four Corners region.
Our Vision:
DesignBuildBLUFF aims to create the best generation of applied
thinkers -- design-minded collaborative advocates for social good
who take a hands-on approach to problem solving.
The University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

11. What is applied thinking?
Our Mission & VisionThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

12. Our Teaching Philosophy - Conceptual v.s. TechnicalThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

13. The University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF Our Teaching Philosophy - Conceptual v.s. Technical

14. The University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF Our Teaching Philosophy - Conceptual v.s. Technical

15. The University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF Our Teaching Philosophy - Conceptual v.s. Technical

16. Current Trends - Conceptual v.s. TechnicalThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

17. Current Trends - Conceptual v.s. TechnicalThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

18. Building Better Architects w/Native CommunitiesThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

19. Where is it?
Where We WorkThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

20. - Founded in Y2K by Hank Louis at the
University of Utah in SLC and Park City
- In 2003 program builds first ever straw
bale house in SLC, UT
- Moved to current home and namesake in
2004 (Bluff, UT)
- In 2004 program builds first project on
the Navajo Nation (Rosie Joe House)
- In 2013 program becomes a formal
program of the University of Utah, Hank
retires, new administration
- In 2015 program expands its mission to
become more multi-disciplinary.
A Quick HistoryThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

24. Where We Work – Comb RidgeThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

25. The Student Experience
The Work: Student ExperienceThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

26. Every fall, a graduate studio of up to sixteen students designs a building
for a pre-identified beneficiary of the Navajo Nation in the southern Utah
tribal area. They spend the better part of this semester converting
drawings into habitable space. As the edifice rises, so does a community
of cohorts, who can boast hands on experience of construction,
teamwork, successful project delivery (in most cases), budget
management, publication of their work and incredible amount of
physical labor—all upon mere graduation. They come to appreciate the
expertise of plumbers and electricians; the knowledge of vendors, and
the importance of sunscreen. During the economically dark years from
2008 to 2013, should we be surprised if Bluff graduates got an edge with
employers over peers who opted for the certainties of university
environs and the comforts of home instead?
The Work: Student ExperienceThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

44. Our Projects
The Student WorkThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

46. $25k in Cash

47. $50k+ Total Value

49. Nakai House
The Student WorkThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

50. Nakai HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

51. Nakai HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

52. Nakai HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

53. Nakai HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

54. www.designbuildbluff.orgNakai HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

55. Nakai HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

56. Nakai HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

57. Nakai HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

58. Nakai HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

59. Nakai HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

60. Nakai HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

61. Nakai HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

62. Nakai HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

63. Nakai HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

64. Yenaldlooshi / Skin WalkersThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

65. Studio 23The University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

66. Exceeding Accessibility
The Student WorkThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

67. Sol Rose House
The Student WorkThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

68. Understanding Disabilities in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities – National Council on Disability
Data from the 1997 Survey of Income and Program Participation
found that 22 percent of the American Indian and Alaska Native
population has one or more disabilities (McNeil, 2001). This is
the highest rate of disability when compared with all other races
in the United States.

69. Understanding Disabilities in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities – National Council on Disability
What disabilities do we find in Indian communities?
• Spinal cord injury
• Diabetes complications
• Blindness
• Mobility disability
• Traumatic brain injury
• Deafness or hardness of hearing
• Orthopedic conditions
• Arthralgia
• Emotional or mental health conditions
• Learning disabilities
• Alcoholism or drug dependence

70. Understanding Disabilities in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities – National Council on Disability
Barriers to treatment?
• Attitude
• Lack of Awareness
• Legal Enforcement Unclear
• Rural Transportation
• Rural Infrastructure
• Public Access
• Complex Federal Programs
• State Relationships
• Education System
• Employment
• Housing
• Service Coordination and Advocacy
• Alcoholism or drug dependence
• Personal Care Assistance

71. The Sol Rose project was designed and executed to meet the
needs of a client, who at our first encounter, was just barely
adjusting to life in a wheelchair. At the time she was living in a
very humble single-wide trailer that was in disrepair and
impossible for her to access.
Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

72. Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

73. Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

74. Our students met with her to address her needs through the
design and construction of an ADA wheelchair accessible house,
which would exceed those standards and vastly improve her
ability to once again take care of herself. The focus of the design
became how to reconnect her with views and the outdoors. The
site was uniquely suited to this task as it had 360 degree
sweeping panoramas of important land formations, including
Monument Valley, Bears Ears, and Blue Mountain.
Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

75. Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

76. Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

77. Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

78. Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

79. Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

80. Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

81. Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

82. Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

83. Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

84. Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

85. Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

86. Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

87. Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

88. Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

89. Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

90. Sol Rose HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

91. Adding to Lessons Learned
Critical ReflectionThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

92. The Future of Community Engagement:
Renewing the Capacity of Indigenous
Communities to Serve Themselves
Critical ReflectionThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

93. Much more can be said in praise of design build pedagogy and the fine
institution that is Bluff. But if one goes on, one runs the risk of
celebrating the asymmetries of power that underpin the successes of
Bluff. This case study situates us at a prodigious vantage point. Here we
see a struggle between the Navajo’s cosmocentric and our
anthropocentric definition of architecture and the architect; and the
balance is clearly titled in “our” favor. After all it is an interface between
one of the poorest, most exploited, and discredited communities in the
United States, and the representatives of American Academy, one of the
most forceful cultural institutions of its day.
Critical ReflectionThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

94. We need to educate our students that this community is disadvantaged
not because they don’t have architects. Till the middle of nineteenth
century, building was an essential life skill, like cooking, stitching,
weaving, storytelling and throwing pots. Men and women built their
houses together. Instead, the Navajo are a disadvantaged community
because the dominant culture of which we all are the beneficiaries and
publicists, has robbed them of all their institutions, means of sustenance,
and land. They are a disadvantaged people because we have subjugated
their spiritual (cosmocentric) attitude of space and time to our modern
(anthropocentric) attitude. If this were a problem unique to
DesignBuildBLUFF, School of Architecture and the state of Utah, it would
not have taken us a decade to see the glaring colonial and exploitative
nature of this our most cherished public interest architectural program.
Critical ReflectionThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

95. Conical Forked Pole Hogan SymbolismThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

96. Conical Forked Pole Hogan SymbolismThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

97. Conical Forked Pole Hogan SymbolismThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

100. Critical ReflectionThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

102. Badger Springs House
The Student WorkThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

103. Badger Springs HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

104. Badger Springs HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

105. Badger Springs HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

106. Badger Springs HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

107. Badger Springs HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

108. Badger Springs HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

109. Badger Springs HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

110. Badger Springs HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

111. Badger Springs HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

112. Badger Springs HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

113. Badger Springs HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

114. Badger Springs HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

115. Badger Springs HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

116. Badger Springs HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

117. Badger Springs HouseThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

118. What’s Next?The University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF
Looking Towards the Future

119. The Influence of GlobalizationThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

120. What’s Next?The University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF
1. Building the capacity of communities from within
2. Identify local accessible material and human
resources
3. Translating the voices of the community
4. Emphasizing cultural identity

121. Partnerships: GRID Alternatives (Clean Energy)The University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

122. Change Labs – Creative EntrepreneurshipThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

123. Change Labs – Creative EntrepreneurshipThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

124. Northern Cheyenne Basketball Clinic Summer 2014The University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

125. After School Mentorship – Bluff ElementaryThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

126. After School Mentorship – Bluff ElementaryThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

127. After School Mentorship – Bluff ElementaryThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

128. Land Use Planning, Dine BikeyahThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

129. Land Use Planning, Dine BikeyahThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

130. Land Use Planning, Dine BikeyahThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

131. Community Development - Bluff, UTThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

132. Community Development - Bluff, UTThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

133. Pivot Towards Broad Impact
Critical ReflectionThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

134. Red Sand Cabins
The Student WorkThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

136. Red Sand CabinsThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

137. Red Sand CabinsThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

138. Red Sand CabinsThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

139. Red Sand CabinsThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

140. Red Sand CabinsThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

141. Red Sand CabinsThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

142. Red Sand CabinsThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

143. Red Sand CabinsThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

144. Red Sand CabinsThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

145. Cedar Hall
The Student WorkThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

146. Cedar HallThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

147. Cedar HallThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

148. Cedar HallThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

149. Cedar HallThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

150. Cedar HallThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

151. Cedar HallThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

152. Cedar HallThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

153. Cedar HallThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

154. Cedar HallThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

155. Cedar HallThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

156. Cedar HallThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

157. Cedar HallThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

158. Cedar HallThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

159. Cedar HallThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

160. Dennehotso Sweat Equity
Project
The Student WorkThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

161. Sweat EquityThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

162. Sweat EquityThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

163. Sweat EquityThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

164. Sweat EquityThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

165. Sweat EquityThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

166. Sweat EquityThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

167. Sweat EquityThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

168. Sweat EquityThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

169. Sweat EquityThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

170. Sweat EquityThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

171. Sweat EquityThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

172. Sweat EquityThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

173. Sweat EquityThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

174. Sweat EquityThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

175. Sweat EquityThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

176. Sweat EquityThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

177. Sweat EquityThe University of Utah| DesignBuildBLUFF

178. How to find us…
The Student WorkThe University of Utah | DesignBuildBLUFF

179. www.designbuildbluff.org

180. www.designbuildbluff.org

181. www.designbuildbluff.org

183. The Future of Community Engagement: Renewing the Capacity of Indigenous Communities to Serve Themselves