Tammy Eagle Bull, a professor at Arizona State University’s Design School, is educating future architects on integrating Indigenous design principles into contemporary practice. Her approach prioritizes understanding a site's deep history and original inhabitants, moving beyond conventional technical considerations.
Eagle Bull emphasizes that these historical perspectives offer valuable strategies for addressing modern environmental challenges, such as the extreme heat in places like Phoenix. She points out that the region’s historical inhabitants developed sustainable methods for managing heat and water, demonstrating that thriving in such climates is possible. She believes that by looking to these past practices, contemporary design can find more effective and less challenging ways to create livable environments.
These Indigenous design concepts are foundational to modern architectural movements like “Passive House,” which works in harmony with natural weather patterns and wind flows, and “life-centered design,” which incorporates local ecology and circular economy principles. Eagle Bull asserts that Indigenous design has been practicing these core ideas for thousands of years.
At ASU, Eagle Bull is involved in educating the next generation of architects. Her students have explored solutions for unhoused Indigenous populations in Phoenix, focusing on rapid, safe shelter deployment that respects Native culture. One concept considered was co-housing, which allows for flexible living arrangements that can accommodate extended families, diverging from the typical separation of men and women in shelters. Eagle Bull advocates for such adaptable strategies to best suit diverse community needs.
In 2025, Eagle Bull took on the role of director for ASU’s new Master of Science in Indigenous Placekeeping and Design program. This program, founded by Wanda Dalla Costa, the first First Nations woman licensed architect in Canada, is one of the few U.S. degree programs focusing on both the history and practical application of Indigenous design. Eagle Bull believes that Indigenous cultural practices offer crucial lessons for managing the environment and fostering human coexistence, enabling the creation of communities and places that support their inhabitants' identities and well-being.