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A SKETCH_PAD © Press Release

Date:	May 06, 2009
Release Date:	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Title:	CATALYST Enters Final Contract Negotiations For Mid-West Native American Cultural Center
Media Contact:	Deb Weissman
Phone:	(928) 778-3508
eMail:	deb@catalystarchitecture.com

CATALYST Enters Final Contract Negotiations For Mid-West Native American Cultural Center

PRESCOTT, AZ- CATALYST ARCHITECTURE was recently selected to enter into final negotiations with the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, for the design of their new Native American Cultural Center, to be located in southwestern Michigan.

Out of an initial field over 3 dozen firms, CATALYST was chosen as one of only 4 firms to participate in shortlist interviews, which took place on Monday April 27. CATALYST was then selected to enter into contract negotiations with the Tribe on May 5.

The Pokagon Tribe has a long and varied history that includes a deep respect for the gifts of the Earth. Humility and thanks are woven into their teachings, which tell of how the hawk brought fire to the Potawatomi people as a piece of the sun.

With this new Cultural Center, the Tribe will have further opportunity to keep their stories alive by providing a place where they and their children can participate in the daily practice of their culture, and where the wider public can benefit from their teachings.

CATALYST has a history of successful work with Native American Tribes and Nations that results from our understanding of and care for the Earth. This ethic, which has found its most recent expression as 'green' design, has of course been a long standing tenet of most Native American values systems.

CATALYST works on this fruitful common ground to create enduring structures that honor the cultural history and traditions inside their walls as well as the ecological systems within which they reside. With the incorporation of design practices like Biomimicry, Less Than Zero Energy Design, and Eco-Optimization, CATALYST takes 'green' beyond energy-efficiency, shifting the focus of sustainability to complex practices that promote ongoing participation with local ecology.

Resources Pokagon Band of Potawtomi Indians Website Keepers of the Fire: The Potawatomi Nation Yavapai-Apache Cultural Resource Center	The Pokagon Cultural Center's program is nearly identical to other Cultural Centers successfully completed by CATALYST ARCHITECTURE; the Yavapai-Apache Cultural Resource Center [above] being the most similar.

CATALYST ARCHITECTURE is an award winning, full-service sustainable design firm with offices in Prescott, and Flagstaff Arizona. The firm specializes in master planning, public/tribal, commercial, and custom residential work, with an emphasis on high-performance, resource-efficient design and construction practices. With both principals Jeffrey L. Zucker and Matthew B. Ackerman LEED accredited, CATALYST is committed to the thoughtful integration of our natural and built environments.