Jessica and Federico were founding faculty members of DoArch at South Dakota State University. DoArch was started in 2010 as the first professional architecture program in the state of South Dakota and the newest program on the Great Plains in a century. Located on Oceti Sakowin lands and defined by the presence of nine indigenous nations, the geopolitical implications of this legacy simmer beneath the surface of design education in the region. The potential to transform the relationships among materials, places, and peoples continues to shape DoArch. Jessica and Federico spent ten and nine years, respectively, designing architectural education in South Dakota. 

The aim of DoArch is threefold:

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1. Provide the region with well-trained, ethically-driven professionals that advocate for and collaborate with local communities;

2. Strengthen the connections between the design and building arts industries to highlight the importance of labor in education;

3. Expand academic discourse to engage small urbanism and the role of architectural education in un-metropolitan contexts.

In 2015, programs in Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Graphic Design, Architecture, and Studio Arts were brought together to form a new School of Design (SoD). The following year, DoArch moved into a new building with offices, design studios, and a 13,000 square foot workshop outfitted with state of the art manual and CNC fabrication, construction, and manufacturing tools. DoArch has a unique mandate to remain a small program of no more than 220 students.

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Both Means and Ends

Architecture is a way of seeing, shaping, and making sense of our environment.

It is a curiously pragmatic and material practice.

It is a long-standing intellectual discipline.

It is a legally responsible profession.

At full throttle, it is a material mediation of translating productive intellectual action to social effect. Architects use conventional and unconventional technologies (media) to direct specific labor (building arts) to effect a greater socio-public outcome (urbanism). In the Department of Architecture (DoArch) at South Dakota State University the collective work of faculty and students highlights the relationships between the Building Arts and Public Works.

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