2nd Floor
"The classrooms have several possible configurations, but the most impactful is the ability to teach in a circle," says Eladia Smoke, Lead Architect of Smoke Architecture. "The circle has many meanings in Anishinaabe thought, including equity, where each person in the circle has an equal responsibility and authority to bring their best contributions, and a connection with the wider cycles of life that support us. The classroom is about as wide as it is long, and has audiovisual equipment that is modular and available at all four sides."
These classrooms were specifically designed to be in a circular formation by default and to not have a lecture style set up with no "front of the room" – which facilitates a different type of learning. This is unique to the design of these classrooms and was created at the request of Indigenous faculty for spaces they could smudge and teach in.