David T Fortin Architect
David T Fortin Architect | Round Prairie Elders’ Lodge, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 2022. Image credit: Jason Surkan
The Architectural League’s annual Emerging Voices program spotlights North American architects, landscape architects, and urban designers who have significant bodies of realized work and the potential to influence their field.
David Fortin of David T Fortin Architect won a 2024 award.
David Fortin founded David T Fortin Architect in Sudbury, Ontario in 2018. Now located in Cambridge, Ontario, the 100% Indigenous-owned firm believes that “well-designed spaces can strengthen our relations with each other and the Land in profound ways,” in its own words. Primarily working with Métis and First Nation clients across Canada, David T Fortin Architect produces a broad range of work grounded in Indigenous knowledge, from installations and advocacy initiatives to affordable and social housing projects.
Projects include:
- Round Prairie Elders’ Lodge, a modular multi-unit residence for elders that incorporates design elements referencing traditional Métis folk home construction
- Not for Sale!, a collaborative campaign and installation at the 2023 Venice Biennale demanding federal funding for First Nations housing designed and produced by Indigenous communities
- Ma Faamii Community Hub, a flagship office for a newly established Métis Family and Social Services program in Saskatchewan
David Fortin won the Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism’s Inspiring Innovator of the Year award in 2022. He collaborated with the design team for the Canadian pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2023 and 2018.
Fortin is a professor at the University of Waterloo in Cambridge, Ontario. He holds a Ph.D in architecture from the University of Edinburgh, an MArch from the University of Calgary, and a BA from the University of Saskatchewan.
