S U S A N M. A T K I N S O N
Susan M. Atkinson Glenn is the Founding Partner of three award-winning design firms, 7 Directions 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 an Instructor at Colorado State University's Landscape Architecture Program. Specializing in emerging building technologies, LEED, sustainable design, and community facilitation, Susan's projects range from small-scale 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
Bachelor of Science in Finance, Montana State University College of Business, 1986
p r o j e c t s
Apsáalooke Dance Arbor and Round Hall, Crow Agency, MT 2023
Skokomish Tribal Master Plan and Community Center, Skokomish, WA 2017
Apsáalooke Tribal Administrative Complex, Concept Design/Master Plan, Crow Agency, MT 2011—2019
Plaza Roberto Maestes, Transit-Oriented Affordable Housing Development and Outdoor Public Gathering Space, Seattle, WA 2016
Eloise Cobell Land & Culture Institute, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 2014
Place of Hidden Waters: Puyallup Longhouse Senior/ Family Housing and Community Center, Puyallup, WA, 2014
University of Montana Payne Family Native American Center 2010
Ethnobotany Gardens, University of Montana Historic Oval, 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, 2006
Earthquake-Resistant Bamboo House, Matagalpa, Nicaragua, 1987
Low-Cost, Self-Help Housing, Chaguatio, Nicaragua, 1985—1987
a w a r d s + g r a n t s
AIA Honorable Mention, Seattle Honor Awards for Design Excellence, 2023
Art + Science + Action Grant, University of Colorado Boulder, 2021-2023
Boulder County Arts Alliance Grant, 2022 - 2023
Crow Nation Award for Excellence, 100th Annual Crow Fair, Crow Agency, MT, 2018
First Place, SIPA Building Excellence Awards, High Performance Category, 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
Public Art Grant, Seattle 911 Media Arts Center, 1993
Boston Society of Architects Honorable Mention, Boston Visions, 1987
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
Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands, works featured, 2022
TVO Productions, Documentary film on indigenous architecture in response to climate change, works featured, 2021
Colorado Creative Industries Summit, Salida, CO, Public Artwork and immersive designs featured, 2022
UNCEDED: Voices of the Land, The Canadian Museum of Civilization, Ottawa, Canada, works featured, 2019 - 2021
UNCEDED: Voices of the Land, Venice Biennale, Canada's Official Exhibition, works featured, 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/Videographer of documentary short screened at UNESCO Symposium, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995
SQUAT!: Mediated Space, 911 Media Arts public art installation, 1993