P a y n e F a m i l y N a t i v e A m e r i c a n C e n t e r
University of Montana, Missoula, MT
C O M P L E T I O N
2010
S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y
LEED Platinum
“Reflecting a deep respect and integration with the natural world, the program defined site strategies, energy efficient building materials, systems and construction processes to reduce environmental impacts and create a building highly responsive to the Montana climate.”
The University of Montana Payne Family Native American Center in Missoula, Montana, is the first facility built exclusively for a department of Native American Studies in the United States. Recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Montana Sustainable Building Honor Award, the 30,000 SF building occupies the last useable space around the historic Oval. Designed by Glenn + Glenn Architects Engineers, PLLC, the boldly Native American structure is based on a 12-sided rotunda representing the 12 tribes of Montana. The reclaimed logs that hold the building erect and define the Bonnie Heavy Runner Gathering Space were salvaged from the Milltown Dam site in the nearby Clark Fork River.
Inside, the center holds classrooms, conference rooms, office spaces, a student lounge, study areas and student meeting rooms. As a challenge to the campus precedent of red brick boxes for learning, this building makes a statement in steel and glass. Light and views play a symbolic role. Keeping with Native American tradition, the center’s main entrance faces east toward Mount Sentinel. 94% of occupied spaces have views to the outside. The metal roof features a long skylight recalling a traditional smoke hole and large-scale etchings in concrete demonstrate the abstract designs of Great Plains parfleche. Carved into exterior walls are the seals of Montana’s reservations as well as quotes from former University President George Dennison and Native American elders such as Earl Barlow and Joseph Medicine Crow. Native plant and herb gardens circle the center and symbolize the state’s reservations and the seven stars of the big dipper.
l E c t u r e s
Transcending Tradition, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Architecture, Illinois, 2013
Go Back Where You Came From—Indigenous Architecture Past, Present, Future, University of Melbourne School of Design Indigenous Design Symposium, Melbourne, Australia, 2018
p u b l i c a t i o n s
The Handbook of Contemporary Indigenous Architecture, Springer, New York City, 2018
Our Voices: Indigeneity and Architecture, ORO Editions, San Francisco, 2018
i N t h e C o m m u n i T y
Round Dance at Payne Family Native American Center Dance Circle
Student jam session in Payne Family Native American Center Rotunda