AYDELOTT TRAVELS

The Aydelott Travel Award is distributed to several architecture students within the SEC in order for students to gain first hand research experience with architectural sites around the world. In 2021, Covid restrictions kept the travel within the United States, which drove the thesis of researching Indigenous environmental design in four different sites. How did the continents first architects design with the localized environments and how can we as architects learn from these lessons today?

Through traveling to southern Illinois, New Mexico, Arizona, and Alaska, the rich, diverse designs of Indigenous groups throughout these locations beautifully responded to the unique climates. From clay mounds to stone masonry to timber structures, the subsistence living of these flourishing ancient cultures still connects to Indigenous nations today and traditions passed down through generations. 

CRYSTAL LAKE, CHUGACH MOUNTAINS – Anchorage, Alaska