Aerial view of an Alaska Native community along a river; overlaid with ‘AK Design Collaboratory’ and mission text describing collaborative, community-based design.

AK Design Collaboratory

A space for experiential learning that incorporates shared visions, collaborative design, and sustainable solutions rooted in Arctic community wisdom. Together, we imagine what home, resilience, and the future can look like in the North.

  • Visual slide illustrating Arctic housing design concepts such as double-paned windows, flooring systems, and etc. Arctic housing design concepts slide focused on community-based solutions; links to the Arctic Entryways project.

    Arctic Entryways

  • Graph of heat loss through cellulose insulation over time at varying temperatures; links to the ‘Designing an Alternative Building Material for Alaska Homes’ project.

    Designing an Alternative Building Material for Alaska Homes

  • Report cover for ‘Spectrum of Modularity,’ featuring an Arctic landscape; links to modular housing research in Alaska.

    Spectrum of Modularity

  • ASEE 2022 conference paper by Todd Nicewonger, Stacey Fritz, and Lisa McNair on social and environmental factors shaping housing in Alaska, This page links to related research.

    Complexities in Alaskan Housing

  • Color-coded topographic map from an AR Sandbox showing elevation and terrain changes, illustrating interactive landscape modeling. This page links to the AR Sandbox project.

    AR Sandbox

Collaboratory Groups

Scenic Alaskan terrain with wetlands and distant mountains; links to the ‘About Us’ page outlining collaboratory groups, researchers, and goals, with Virginia Tech University noted as a collaborator.

Virginia Tech University

Snowy Alaskan landscape with a small aircraft and distant hills; links to the ‘About Us’ page outlining collaboratory groups, researchers, and goals, with Portland State University noted as a collaborator.

Portland State University

Coastal Alaskan terrain with reflective water and shoreline textures; links to the ‘About Us’ page outlining collaboratory groups, researchers, and goals, with Colby College noted as a collaborator.

Colby College

Forested Alaskan landscape with mountains and dramatic sky; links to the ‘About Us’ page outlining collaboratory groups, researchers, and goals, highlighting community researchers as collaborators.

Community Researchers