S U S A N M. A T K I N S O N
Susan M. Atkinson, Associate AIA, is the Founding Partner of three award-winning design firms, 7Directions Architects / Planners, Glenn + Glenn Architects Engineers PLLC, and Studio Earth Shelter, all of which examine the intertwining aspects of sustainability, technology, and culture in the design of affordable housing, academic buildings, and meaningful public spaces. Susan brings her expertise in culturally and environmentally-responsive design to her studios as a Lecturer at the University of Colorado Boulder, Program in Environmental Design. Specializing in emerging building technologies, LEED, conceptual design, community facilitation, and project management, Susan's projects range from small experimental prototypes and museum exhibits, to the first facility built exclusively for a Native American Studies department in the nation: the LEED Platinum University of Montana Payne Family Native American Center in Missoula, Montana.
e d u c a t i o n
Master of Architecture, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, 1997
Bachelor of Arts in Architecture, University of Washington College of Built Environments, 1993
p r o j e c t s
Apsáalooke Tribal Administrative Complex, Concept Design/Master Plan, Crow Agency, MT 2011—2019
Eloise Cobell Land & Culture Institute, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 2014
Place of Hidden Waters Senior/ Family Housing and Community Center, Puyallup, WA, 2014
University of Montana Payne Family Native American Center, Missoula, MT 2010
Little Big Horn College: Campus Master Plan, Academic Buildings, Driftwood Lodges Learning Center, Cultural Learning Lodge, Library, Gateway, Dance Arbor, and Archives Building, Crow Agency, MT 1998—2010
RIMS Passive Solar House, Billings, MT, 2008
Nageezi Passive Solar House, Navajo Nation, NM, 2005
Earthquake-Resistant Bamboo House, Matagalpa, Nicaragua, 1987
Low-Cost, Self-Help Housing, Chaguatio, Nicaragua, 1985—1987
a w a r d s
Crow Nation Award for Excellence, 100th Annual Crow Fair, Crow Agency, MT, 2018
U.S. Green Building Council, Montana Sustainable Building Honor Award, Missoula, MT, 2015
SEED Social Economic Environmental Design Award for Excellence in Public Interest Design, 2013
U.S. Green Building Council, LEED for Homes Outstanding Innovation, Project of the Year, 2012
Global Green USA's Award, Blueprint for Greening Affordable Housing, 2007
Valley Forward's Crescordia (Grow in Harmony) Environmental Excellence Award, 2007
ACSA Collaborative Practice Award, Montana State University with CTA/ Glenn + Glenn Architects Engineers, 2003
Louis I. Kahn's Phillips Exeter Academy Library, award-winning nomination, American Institute of Architects' Twenty-five Year Award, 1997
Travel Fellowship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, 1995
Public Art Grants, Seattle METRO Artists' Regional Transit Project, 1992—1993
Cranbrook Academy of Art, Art Competition Award Winner, 1986
e x h i b i t i o n s + p u b l i c a t i o n s
UNCEDED: Voices of the Land, Canada's Official Exhibition, works featured, Venice Biennale, 2018
"Our Voices: Indigeneity and Architecture," works featured, ORO Editions, San Francisco, 2018
Go Back Where You Came From Indigenous Design Symposium, works featured, University of Melbourne School of Design, Melbourne, Australia, 2018
Contemporary Indigenous Architecture, University of Queensland Indigenous Design Place / School of Architecture Lecture Series, works featured, Queensland, New Zealand, and Brisbane, Australia, 2017
Coming to a Common Place, University of Manitoba School of Architecture Symposium, works featured, University of Manitoba School of Architecture, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 2014
“New Architecture on Indigenous Lands,” works featured, Malnar & Vodvarka, University of Minnesota Press, 2013
"Natural Heroes: Native American Green," works featured, award-winning PBS Documentary series, 2012
Reconstruction of the Second Crow Agency 1875-1882, Exhibition, Museum of the Beartooths, MT, 2009
"Aboriginal Architecture / Living Architecture," works featured, award-winning PBS Documentary, 2006
"Code of the New West," Rural Design Guidelines, Madison County, Montana, 2005
"The Mellah of Essaouira," Susan Atkinson, Director, screened documentary at UNESCO Symposium, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995
SQUAT!: Mediated Space, 911 Media Arts grant- funded art installation, 1993