Forest County Potawatomi Executive Building
Award of Merit: Public Works
The Forest County Potawatomi have central tribal land in northern Wisconsin, but they lacked a central point that the widely dispersed tribal members could call home.
With administrative services spread throughout multiple buildings in several locations, the tribe sought to consolidate administrative, legal, insurance and other services.
The tribe also wanted its building to be the signature architectural statement for the community by incorporating the values of the nation.
Tribal Focal Point
The desire for the Executive Building to be a focal point in the community and a significant symbol drove the selection of a site that is highly visible and along a highway and central among other buildings in close proximity—a hub for a campus.
Because of a deeply rooted respect for the environment, site considerations included minimizing the building’s footprint, providing a minimum of surface parking and minimizing the loss of mature trees.
For Native Americans, the circle is a significant symbol because it has neither a beginning nor an end. For that reason, both the entry rotunda and the community auditorium—the two primary public spaces—take this form.
The circular entry rotunda, as the primary building form, features a forest of canted columns that draw the eye to the sky. The roof supported above a circular band of glass allows those inside to trace the path of the sun, interact with the seasons and admire the environment. It acts as a beacon or lantern at night.
The auditorium symbolically unifies and embraces the community. The wood structure reinforces the vocabulary.
The use of cedar as the dominant finish material on the exterior and interior reflects the importance of the material in the culture.
The thing that made the building most important to the tribe was also what slowed the design process. Combining different groups who all had been primarily in different buildings, with varying expectations of their work environments and the things they needed to get work done were now being asked to come to consensus on the design of a single building. Everything required compromise and agreement.
This was not a building driven by the needs of one department. It was “the people’s house.”
Jury Comments: “Look at that wood: It’s beautiful. They had to work with different tribal members and different elders. It’s a nice project the nation should be proud of.”
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