AWARDS
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA DULUTH
THE AMERICAN INDIAN
LEARNING RESOURCE CENTER
The American Indian Learning Resource Center is designed to become a nationally significant center for research and learning, as well as a resource for American Indian students and faculty at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. It will house cultural gathering space, classrooms, a library, and office space, and will serve the entire Native American community, with particular focus on the Anishinabe (Ojibwa) tribe.
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The AILRC is designed to LEED Silver Standards and is currently awaiting funding.
PROJECT LOCATION
University of Minnesota Duluth - Duluth, MN
PROJECT SIZE
18,000 SF
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PROJECT TYPE
Education, Classrooms, Library, Convening Space
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CLIENT
University of Minnesota Duluth
The Center’s design reflects the culture that is its focus, connecting to the landscape at both grand and intimate scales and referencing the materiality and detailing of traditional Anishinabe dwellings with its cladding. Internal program spaces unfold along a perimeter stair that reflects ceremonial traditions for the Anishinabe, providing “social eddies” and numerous opportunities for shared learning. The stair culminates in an upper level cultural gathering space with dramatic, east-facing views of Lake Superior and looking toward Madeline Island, the spiritual birthplace of the Anishinabe.
The building anchors a prominent gateway site at the south entry to the campus, punctuating the University’s internal circulation system and overlooking the city below. It both creates a landscape — a sheltered outdoor classroom embedded in the grass — and sits within the landscape — a new grove of birch trees and native grasses. At once practical and symbolic, this provides important outdoor gathering space and represents the Anishinabe ethos of environmental stewardship.
PROJECT COLLABORATORS
ARCHITECT OF RECORD
DSGW Architects
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LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
O2 Design
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Meyer Borgman Johnson
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MEP
Dunham