Interplay of Cultures Studio – Sámi: Architecture that leaves no trace in the environment, Master's level course in Architecture

Who are the Sámi? What is Sámi culture? What is Sápmi? What can be called Sámiarchitecture? Who has the right to design in Sápmi? What is cultural appropriation? How can one experience Sápmi? Who has the right to own the land? How can we learn about indigenous culture, here Sámi, without perpetuating colonization? What have we learned about the way Sámi cultures relate to our material reality and how could this inform the way we build today in Western culture as we strive for a sustainable way to live on the planet? During the beginning of the year 2022 the multidisciplinary architecture master studio,Interplay of Culture introduced 16 students to Sámi culture. Here are a few questions that we asked ourselves, and tried to answer with more questions than definite answers. The focus of this course is on the thematic area of Global Sustainability and Cultural Locality. The aim was to gain insight on sustainable building solutions and culturally sensitive architecture in indigenous northern cultures context. This publication is the summary of our exploration on the extremely broad and fascinatingSámi cultures. It gives diversified insight on what students explored, learned and understood of Sámi culture and building knowledge.Peer reviewe