The Navajo Cultural Conservation Pavilion is an architectural initiative that celebrates and preserves Dine Art and its four foundational elements: Identity, Environment, Storytelling, and Community. This project features a series of mobile, prefabricated pavilions that honor the art of oral storytelling within the Navajo culture. Traveling across the Chinle, Western, and Shiprock Agencies during the autumn and winter months - when storytelling is traditionally practiced - these pavilions serve as dynamic community hubs. Here, individuals can unite to share stories, exchange knowledge, and commemorate the rich cultural legacy of the Navajo people. Ideally, the project’s traveling component will be led by the community’s youth and young adults. Emphasizing openness and connection, the pavilions welcome visitors to engage with the spaces and one another. The design accommodates a range of storytelling formats, from small, intimate gatherings to more expansive performances. The translucently of the polycarbonate panels allows visibility to the surrounding landscape and constellations prominent in many of the Dine stories and emphasizes their connection to nature and the land the surrounds them.
