Wanda Dalla Costa facts for kids

Wanda Dalla Costa is an architect and a teacher. She has worked with Indigenous communities in North America for almost 20 years. She helps design buildings that fit Indigenous cultures. She also works on homes that are good for the environment and can handle climate changes.

Wanda Dalla Costa teaches at Arizona State University (ASU). She is a member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation. She is also the first First Nations woman architect in Canada. She started her own company, Redquill Architecture Inc., in Phoenix, Arizona. In 2018, she was one of 18 Indigenous architects from Canada. They showed their work at the Venice Architecture Biennale.

Early Life and Learning

Wanda Dalla Costa's mother is from the Saddle Lake First Nation in Alberta. Most of her mother's siblings went to residential schools. Her grandfather was from Goodfish Lake, Alberta. Her grandmother was from Saddle Lake, Alberta.

In 1990, Wanda started a long trip. She went backpacking through Australia and New Zealand. This trip was supposed to be for one year. But she kept traveling for seven years! She visited 37 different countries.

Wanda Dalla Costa earned two master's degrees. One was in Design Research from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). The other was in architecture from the University of Calgary. She also has a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and Native Studies from the University of Alberta.

Her Work as an Architect

Wanda Dalla Costa started Redquill Architecture Inc. in 2010. Her company works only with tribal communities. She wants to bring back meaning to buildings. She does this by studying traditional worldviews.

Notable Projects

Her projects include the Niitsitapi Learning Centre in Calgary. She also designed several buildings at Red Crow Community College in Cardston. Other projects are the Fort McMurray First Nation Community Recreation Centre. She also worked on the Tsuu T’ina Nation Office Building in Edmonton. Wanda is a registered architect in Arizona and California.

Teaching and Collaboration

Wanda also teaches at Arizona State University (ASU). She is an Institute Professor and an associate professor there. Her teaching includes special projects where students help communities.

She is also the leader of the Indigenous Design Collaborative at ASU. This group designs and builds projects with local tribes in Arizona. The collaborative connects tribal members with ASU students and teachers. It also works with people from the building industry.

Boards and Councils

Wanda Dalla Costa is part of several important groups. She is on the board of the Construction in Indian Country Advisory Council. She leads a group focused on Indigenous Architecture Education. She is also a member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) Indigenous Task Force. She is also part of the American Indian Council of Architects and Engineers (AICAE).

In 2017, she was one of six women architects. They took part in the Venice Biennale Exhibit for Canada. The exhibit was called Unceded.

Awards and Recognition

Wanda Dalla Costa has received several awards for her work.

• 2020: Trailblazer Award from Verdical Group's annual Net Zero Conference.
• 2019: Named to the YBCA 100 by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
• 2018: Venice Biennale, Team Canada Finalist.
• 2017: Buckminster Fuller Catalyst Program Finalist.
• 2017: MacArthur 100 & Change (invited to the Buckminster Fuller Catalyst Program).

Selected Projects