Alumni Around the World: Wanda Dalla Costa

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a trailblazer? Join us for a chat with Canada’s first, First Nations woman architect, Wanda Dalla Costa, ‘91 BA.

Tempe, Arizona, USA

Wanda Dalla Costa, ‘91 BA, AIA, FRAIC, LEED A.P., is a member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation. Her firm, Tawaw Architecture Collective has offices in both Phoenix and Calgary. At Arizona State University, she is the founder of the Indigenous Design Collaborative, a community-driven design and construction program, which brings together tribal community members, industry and a multidisciplinary team of ASU students and faculty to co-design and co-develop solutions for tribal communities. Her teaching and research are focused on Indigenous ways of knowing, co-design methodologies, and the resiliency of vernacular architectures. Dalla Costa received an Honorary Doctorate in 2023 from Athabasca University. In 2022, she was recognized as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada, and in 2019, she was recognized as a YBCA 100 recipient by the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, a list that celebrates people, organizations, and movements shifting culture through ideas, their art, and their activism.