Wanda Dalla Costa

Wanda Dalla Costa's mother is one of six children and is from Saddle Lake First Nation, Alberta. All but one of the children went to residential school. Her grandfather is from Goodfish Lake, Alberta and her grandmother is from Saddle Lake, Alberta.

In 1990, she began a formative backpacking journey through Australia and New Zealand. Although the trip was intended to be a gap year abroad, her travels continued for seven years and included thirty-seven countries. Dallas Costa earned her master's degree in Design Research in the department of City Design, Planning and Policy from Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) and another master's degree in architecture from the University of Calgary. She has a Bachelor's of Arts in Sociology and Native Studies from University of Alberta.

Dalla Costa founded Redquill Architecture Inc., in 2010 in order to exclusively work with tribal communities and investigate ways of re-instilling the built environment with meaning from studies of traditional worldviews. Projects include the Niitsitapi Learning Centre in Calgary, several buildings at Red Crow Community College in Cardston, Fort McMurray First Nation Community Recreation Centre, and the Tsuu T’ina Nation Office Building in Edmonton. She is a registered architect in Arizona and California.{{Cite web|title=Wanda Dalla Costa {{!}} Arizona State University - Academia.edu|url=http://asu.academia.edu/WDallaCosta/CurriculumVitae|access-date=2020-08-20|website=asu.academia.edu}}

She also teaches at Arizona State University (ASU) as both an Institute Professor and associate professor. Dalla Costa's teaching includes interdisciplinary service learning studios. She is also the founding director of the Indigenous Design Collaborative at ASU which carries out design and design-build projects with local tribes in Arizona.{{Cite web|title=2019 Honorees|url=https://ybca.org/ybca-100/2019-honorees/|access-date=2020-08-20|website=YBCA|language=en-US}} The collaborative makes connections between tribal community members, multidisciplinary ASU students and faculty, and industry.

She is on the board of the Construction in Indian Country Advisory Council, chair of the Subcommittee on Indigenous Architecture Education, Indigenous Task Force, member of the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada (RAIC) Indigenous Task Force, and member of the American Indian Council of Architects and Engineers (AICAE).

In 2017, she was one of six women Architects to participate in the Venice Bienniale Exhibit for Canada titled, Unceded.{{Cite web |last=Bowman |first=Popi |date=December 16, 2017 |title=A "Who's Who" Of Indigenous Architects Creates Historic Venice Biennale Exhibit For Canada |url=https://worldarchitecture.org/architecture-news/cvnpn/a_whos_who_of_indigenous_architects_creates_historic_venice_biennale_exhibit_for_canada.html |website=World Architecture}}

• 2020, Trailblazer Award, Verdical Group's annual Net Zero Conference{{Cite web |last=hello@verdicalgroup.com |date=2023-09-29 |title=Honoring Past Keynote Speakers and Trailblazer Award Winners |url=https://netzeroconference.com/honoring-past-keynote-speakers-and-trailblazer-award-winners/ |access-date=2024-09-06 |website=Net Zero Conference |language=en-US}}
• 2019, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, YBCA 100
• 2018, Venice Biennale, Team Canada Finalist
• 2017, Buckminster Fuller Catalyst Program Finalist
• 2017, MacArthur 100 & Change (top 17%; invited to the Buckmister Fuller Catalyst Program)

• Dalla Costa, W. (2018 in press). “Teaching Indigeneity in Architecture: Indigenous Placekeeping Framework.” In Kiddle, R., Stewart. L.P  & O’Brien, K. (eds). Our Voices: Indigeneity and Architecture,  ORO Editions, New York, NY, USA: 146–153.
• Dalla Costa, W. (2018 in press). “Metrics and margins: Envisioning frameworks in Indigenous architecture in Canada.”  In Grant, E., Greenop, K. & Refiti, A. (eds). Handbook of Contemporary Indigenous Architecture. 2017, Springer International, The University of Adelaide, Sydney, Australia: 193–221.{{Cite web|title=Wanda Dalla Costa - Person|url=https://sustainability.asu.edu/person/|access-date=2020-08-20|website=Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation|language=en-US}}
• Dalla Costa, W. (2011) "An emerging narrative: Aboriginal contributions to Canadian architecture". pp. 356–379 In: Voyageur, C. J., D. R. Newhouse and D. Beavon eds., Hidden in Plain Sight: Contributions of Aboriginal Peoples to Canadian Identity and Culture. University of Toronto Press. Toronto, Canada. {{ISBN|978-1442610125}}.
• Dalla Costa, W. (2016) “Contextualized Metrics and Narrating Binaries: Defining Place and Process in Indigenous North America,” A Conference paper presented at Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), 2016 International Conference. Santiago, Chile.
• Dalla Costa W. (2017) “Housing Equity and Heat Vulnerability: A Case Study for Indigenous Design and Construction.” In: M. Young (ed.), AMPS Proceedings Series 9. Living and Sustainability: An Environmental Critique of Design and Building Practices, Locally and Globally. London South Bank University, London, 08 – 9 February 2017. pp: 543–554.
• Costa, Wanda Dalla, et al. “Unique Features of Conducting Construction Activities Within Tribal Communities.” Construction Research Congress 2018, pp. 233–42.{{Cite journal |last1=Arviso |first1=Brianne |last2=Parrish |first2=Kristen |last3=Costa |first3=Wanda Dalla |date=2018-03-29 |title=Unique Features of Conducting Construction Activities within Tribal Communities |url=http://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/9780784481295.024 |journal=Construction Research Congress 2018 |language=en |location=New Orleans, Louisiana |publisher=American Society of Civil Engineers |pages=233–242 |doi=10.1061/9780784481295.024 |isbn=978-0-7844-8129-5}}
• Dalla Costa, Wanda. “Indigenous Futurity and Architecture: Rewriting the Urban Narrative.” Architecture Australia, vol. 109, no. 2, 2020, pp. 56–58.{{Cite journal |last=Dalla Costa |first=Wanda |date=2020 |title=Indigenous Futurity and Architecture: Rewriting the Urban Narrative |journal=Architecture Australia |volume=109| issue = 2 |pages=56–58}}

• Sussman, Deborah. Between Classes: Season 1, Episode 4, Wanda Dalla Costa, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFbBYJnpy8Q.
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtL7d0Wr_9A Decolonizing Design Equity Workshop by Prof. Wanda Dalla Costa + AEDE, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtL7d0Wr_9A]
• Wanda Dalla Costa, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rsopymQ3NE

{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalla Costa, Wanda}}

Category:Living people

Category:Architects from Arizona

Category:Canadian women architects

Category:University of Alberta alumni

Category:University of Calgary alumni

Category:University of Arizona faculty

Category:Southern California Institute of Architecture alumni

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Place of birth missing (living people)

Category:People from Alberta

Category:First Nations architects

Category:Cree people

Category:Canadian women academics

Category:20th-century Canadian architects

Category:21st-century Canadian architects

Category:20th-century First Nations women

Category:20th-century First Nations people

Category:21st-century First Nations women

Category:21st-century First Nations people