Art Restart Podcast: Wanda Dalla Costa
Wanda Dalla Costa, a proud member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation, has built a groundbreaking
career by weaving Indigenous knowledge systems into contemporary design. As the first
First Nations woman to become a licensed architect in Canada, she is Principal and
Founder of Tawaw Architecture Collective, which has offices in Calgary and Phoenix.
In this interview, Dalla Costa discusses how she is redefining what it means to design “in a good way,” what she has learned from decades of listening to elders, youth, and knowledge-keepers, and how Indigenous ingenuity offers crucial lessons for building in a rapidly changing climate. She also shares how her firm reimagines the business of architecture itself through an Indigenous ethos.
The Art Restart podcast is hosted by Pier Carlo Talenti and is produced by the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts.
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Oct. 3, 2025