Interior design students propose sustainable innovations for Seminole cooking chickees

Interior Design assistant professor Sarah Sherman assigned a unique project for her Sustainable Interior Design Practices course: Students would work with representatives of the Seminole Indian Tribe to evaluate a traditional Seminole building type and propose new, sustainable building designs while maintaining the cultural value of the original structure.

The results were presented on Dec. 8 in a studio in the Paul L. Cejas School of Architecture building at Modesto A. Maidique Campus.

Six teams of students proposed a unique, sustainable design to modernize a cooking chickee – typically a sturdy open-air, rectangular structure with a roof that is thatched with palm fronds. Each design incorporated updated materials, while retaining the chickee’s original function within the community in order to respect and sustain the origins of the chickee model.

The Panthers presented their ideas to Seminole tribal members who offered them valuable feedback on their concepts. The ideas all portrayed how sustainable techniques and innovative materials can be employed in making chickees that address contemporary needs. These innovative designs will aid the tribe as they make decisions about investing in chickee buildings of the future.

“Sustainable design involves actions that create new places while preserving both the ecosystems and cultural systems of the context in which the design takes place. The chickee project’s objective was to teach students about the contributions green building makes to society as whole and to unique cultures in particular,” Sherman said. “The design projects focused on a unique cultural community in order to firmly connect sustainable design practices with the values, norms, traditions and beliefs of a particular group of people.”

The design project also involved students researching the Seminoles and their use of the chickee as a specific manifestation of tribal practices, identity and culture.