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This article is part of our series profiling the Architectural League of New York’s 2024 Emerging Voices laureates and appears in the March/April issue of The Architectural League of New York. one. The full list of winners can be found here.
David T. Fortin is a tenured professor of architecture at the University of Waterloo in Cambridge, Ontario, and the founder of David T. Fortin Architects (DTFA), a practice Aboriginal offices across Canada.He has twice represented Canada at the Venice Architecture Biennale—curating 2023 Not sold as a product, Organized by Architects Against Housing Alienation, of which Fortin is a committee member, the 2018 UNCEDED: Voices of the Land.
DTFA works directly with Métis, First Nations and Cree communities to incorporate Indigenous building practices through a design process based on listening and local engagement. Like many other Aboriginal practitioners, Fortin often represents diverse groups under institutional bequests.Fortin told one: “When you work with a specific Aboriginal community, the inspiration for your design work becomes clearer. There is a specificity to what you want to express.” His role is particularly valuable in large institutional projects where There needs to be negotiation between the multiple voices and cultures that are just getting a seat at the table.
Most recently, DTFA completed Horse Dance Lodge, an Aboriginal transitional housing project, as well as three projects in the Metis community in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: the Gabriel Dumont Institute and two offices for Ma Faamii Family and Social Services building, and Round Prairie Seniors Cottages, a modular housing project. The office is also building two proposed multifamily complexes in Kamloops, B.C., and Regina, Saskatchewan.
Fortin’s design ethos is also reflected in his pedagogy. He leads a design studio where students are tasked with reimagining the Canadian embassy in an era of reconciliation, prioritizing recognition of local Aboriginal culture over colonization. Fortin reminds us, “The focus for all Aboriginal people is always ‘Whose land are you on?’ and how to respect them as owners.”
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