Land As Teacher: Architecture at Piscataway Park

Abstract

In the Spring of 2026 University of Maryland Architecture students in the ARCH 601 advanced graduate design studio had the opportunity to engage Accokeek Foundation and members of the Piscataway Tribe to envision what “Land as Teacher Architecture” might be at Piscataway Park. Together, community partners and students developed design tools and processes to foster conversations about sustainable and culturally informed architecture appropriate for the Mid-Atlantic Region. The coursework explored a range of building typologies and programs (including educational, institutional and residential) through indigenous perspectives, the lens of critical regionalism, and other approaches in the discipline of architecture and urban design that consider both traditional and contemporary practices together.