Oak Savanna and ITECK Center
Project Origin
Since 2011, Judy BlueHorse Skelton (Nez Perce/Cherokee) has worked on the project site known as the PSU Oak Savanna with Indigenous Nations Studies students in efforts 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, offers space for reflection and healing, creates wildlife habitat, and demonstrates Indigenous land practices for food, medicine, art, and ceremony.
Project Description
In 2021, Professor Sergio 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.
Location
Pacific Northwest, United States
Partners
PSU Indigenous Nations Studies, PSU Capital Projects, Opsis Architecture, Place Architecture
Oak Savanna and ITECK Center: The Voices at the Intersection of ITECK and Architecture Series
In September 2024, a podcast series was launched focusing on the restoration efforts of the PSU Oak Savanna and the design process behind the re-envisioning of the ITECK Center. This collaborative project involves the Design for the Common Good Network, PSU Indigenous Nations Studies, the ITECK Program, and the PSU School of Architecture.
The series documents the role of students, faculty, and community leaders as they work together to restore the Oak Savanna and integrate Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Cultural Knowledge (ITECK) with architectural design and the lessons learn to date.
Listen to the Podcast Here
Tree Line Stage Pickathon Festival
In 2023, Professor Travis Bell and Athena Rilatos (Siletz) a Indigenous Architectural Designer and a former PSU architecture graduate student, led a design-build studio with students focused on creating a stage for the Pickathon music festival. The design was intended to be deconstructed after the festival and reassembled as a pavilion on the Oak Savanna. This pavilion represents the first step in activating the site through a collaboration between the PSU School of Architecture and the Center for Public Interest Design.
Oak Savanna and ITECK Center Event Calendar
Looking to get involved? The ITECK Program in collaboration with the PSU School of Architecture host several community engagement events centered on the restoration of the Oak Savanna and the re-design of the ITECK Center.
Contact egio@pdx.edu for more information.
Upcoming Events
Winter Seasonal Gathering at the Oak Savanna
Where: PSU Oak Savanna and ITECK Center
When: February 14, 2025, 10-1 PM