University of Arizona School of Architecture hit the road on a ‘Tour de Navajo Nation’ trip to visit key landmarks on the Navajo reservation, including Diné College
TSAILE, Ariz., Feb. 24, 2026—Students from the University of Arizona, College of Architecture, Planning & Landscape Architecture, stopped by the Diné College campus to experience exemplary architectural designs inspired by Indigenous culture, philosophy, and the environment.
Laura Carr, Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture, Co-founder and Director of the Native Peoples Design Coalition (NPDC), brought Master of Architecture students from the Advanced Studio course, ARC 510E Design Studio V: Community | NPDC Studio, to the Navajo Nation to visit key monuments and infrastructure on the Navajo reservation.
The Native Peoples Design Coalition was established in 2023 at the University of Arizona to provide Arizona’s tribal communities with assistance in planning and design. NPDC facilitates a community-based participatory design process that centers community voice as the driving force behind planning and design decisions.
“Through NPDC’s work, we seek to elevate and expand professional and academic understandings of Native American and Indigenous design. We emphasize that building can do more than address immediate needs; when design is grounded in meaningful collaboration with community members, it has the capacity to respond authentically to people and place, support cultural continuity, and embed Indigenous knowledge systems,” says Laura.
“In doing so, design can move beyond sustainability toward regeneration—creating places that restore, strengthen, and sustain communities over time. We are also looking to create systematic change by strengthening Native American and Indigenous career pathways within our college for leadership in shaping the built environment and exposing non-Native to cultural literacy training opportunities that help them be more effective when working with Tribal communities.”
The Tuba City Chapter Community Development Manager, Nelson Cody, helped guide students from Tuba City to Monument Valley, Canyon de Chelly, and onward to the Navajo Nation Museum, but not after stopping by the Diné College Ned Hataałi Center.”
