Studio:indigenous

I’m happy to share I have an essay in the current Harvard Design Magazine 53, Reuse and Repair. “My Estranged Relative: Some Indigenous Values for Repair” offers another way to view the land - as an estranged relative we need to reconcile with. Thanks to the guest editors, Jeanne Gang and Lizabeth Cohen for inviting me to contribute. Much gratitude to Ken Stewart and Meghan Sandberg for their editorial guidance.

I’m delighted to share Ukwé Tase (Stranger) has been longlisted in the 2025 for Installation Design. The piece was an alternative land acknowledgment for the 2023 CAB 5: This is a Rehearsal. I am grateful to the CAB 5 curators and staff, to for their impeccable fabrication and for the always exquisite photos.

Master’s Project Final | Spring 2025 | | Alexander Smith | Q***r Placemaking in New Mexico | I chaired his committee and was joined by Nora Wendl & Albert Lopez

This M.Arch thesis project investigates Q***r placemaking within the unique cultural and geographic landscape of New Mexico. Addressing the challenges faced by a dispersed LGBTQIA+ community—such as issues of visibility, safety, and the need for spaces that honor intersecting identities including Two-Spirit legacies—the project critiques traditional, centralized models of Q***r space.

My Youngest Relatives

Solo Exhibition at

I have begun to think of buildings as our youngest relatives. I think of the responsibility I have as a designer and my effort to be a good future ancestor. The artifacts I am leaving are to be understood as contemporary forms grounded in a timeless world view. Buildings are not unlike infants; they take tremendous effort to bring into being, they s**t, they sweat, they consume resources but can also be tremendously rewarding. I don’t have children, but I know what it is to put somethintg into the world that others can experience and understand what I stood for as a relative.