Pedagogies of Site

This article presents a case study on implementing anti-racist, critical, and decolonizing pedagogies in an undergraduate architecture design studio framed around the question of designing on “stolen land.” By emphasizing land, repair, and a rejection of colonial notions of property and boundary, the studio positioned site not as a neutral backdrop but as the premise of its pedagogical structure. Student-led learning outcomes were cultivated through research, collaborative discussions, and iterative drawing. Assignments progressed from developing what Giroux terms a “language of possibility,” integrating decolonial and critical theories to analyze everyday life and power structures, to conceptual investigations of “ground” as both material and political. Students then undertook collaborative relational mapping, selecting sites ranging from Central Park to the US–Mexico border, producing layered drawings that situated spatial conditions within historical timelines. The final project, “This is a Site…”, asked students to conduct individual analyses and speculative proposals, including investigations of stolen artifacts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and shifting borders along the Rio Grande. Student reflections highlighted the value of peer-led learning, inclusive dialogue, and critical pedagogy in rethinking design practice. At the same time, the absence of Indigenous voices and the persistence of disciplinary conventions revealed the challenges of sustaining decolonial inquiry within accredited studio structures. This case contributes to design education by demonstrating how pedagogy can prepare students to engage with complexity, confront historical inequities, and imagine more just futures through design.