Internal Architecture

Take a hike to Grotto Falls with Dãmasa Germaine Perry as she shares her life's work as an animist. Through powerful storytelling, we traverse her recent rights of passage initiations in Gabon, Africa. Diving into the world of energetics, ancestors, and right relationship to the world around us, which includes being in devotion and in ritual with our everyday life. As she likes to say - Enter with respect.

This episode is a long form recording of our hike—almost two hours that honors storytelling over information dumping. Listen as it calls to you. 

Meet our guest:

Dãmasa is an animist, ancestral guide, and embodied intimacy facilitator whose work centers African and Indigenous practices as a pathway to profound remembrance and power. Rooted in West and Central African lineages, she is an initiate of Dagbon, Dagara, Ndjembe, and Bwiti traditions. Through ritual, intuitive somatic touch, and energetic attunement, she supports individuals in restoring their connection to mind, body, and the natural and unseen worlds. Dãma’s practice is dedicated to decolonization fostering right relationship with spirit and the land, moving away from individualism in service of community and global Indigenous liberation.

Click here for her instagram @damasoul_sacred

Linktree DãmaSoul Sacred

Chapters

Content Warning: This episode includes brief language surrounding sexual violence at 36:14.

00:00 - PART 1: Introduction to Animism & Ancestral Work 

10:16 - PART 2: The Journey to Initiation in Gabon 

28:30 - PART 3: Power, Oppression & Decolonization 

59:30 - PART 4: Right Relationship, Nature, Community

1:18:45 - PART 5: The Bridge, The Liminal, Women's Wisdom & Closing

In part two of our conversation, Mackenzie Coulthard and Tessa Coughenour dive into their graduate thesis projects—exploring water scarcity and wind turbine sustainability.

Mackenzie shares her research on water scarcity as a spectrum, architectural frameworks for both arid (Las Vegas) and coastal (Miami) environments. 

Tessa challenges our assumptions about renewable energy, revealing the hidden environmental costs of wind turbines based on her upbringing in Wyoming. From manufacturing impacts to end-of-life disposal in landfills. 

The episode closes with our signature sledgehammer question, where each designer shares what they'd demolish in the field and what they'd rebuild in its place. Their answers? Listen now!

This episode emphasizes the importance of challenging norms, staying optimistic about change, and finding ways to fold your passions into your work—whether you're in school or years into your career.

Check out their thesis materials <3

Mackenzie Coulthard 

https://www.patreon.com/posts/gift-of-gab-part-145547499?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Tessa Coughenour 

https://www.patreon.com/posts/gift-of-gab-part-145552776?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Meet Our Guests:

Mackenzie Coulthard is a Montana–based designer and graduate of Montana State University with a Master's degree in Architecture. She is interested in holistic design approaches that respond to human health, environmental responsibility, and natural resources. Originally from a small agricultural town in Northern California rooted in viticulture, Mackenzie brings a deep appreciation for land-based industries and rural life as she pursues work that aligns with her values.

Tessa Coughenour is a Montana–based designer and graduate of Montana State University, where she earned her Master's degree in Architecture. She is currently finding her niche within the field and has a passion for combining health and architecture—learning to design in ways that can heal and nurture our bodies naturally. Architecture can have tremendous impacts on people, and learning how to create beneficial and lasting effects is the journey she is on!

In this two part conversation Mackenzie Coulthard and Tessa Coughenour share what it's like entering the field after completing their Master's degrees. We discuss the tensions between creating warm, eclectic homes and economic forces, the parallels between Hood Feminism and sustainability movements (who gets centered vs. who gets left out), and the professional narratives we've inherited - like "it depends on the client" - that keep us feeling powerless.

This episode is an invitation to listen for the invisible systems that become visible in casual conversation. Part 2 will dive into their thesis projects and what they want to demolish and rebuild in the field.

Note: In this episode, I offer paraphrases, analogies, and interpretations related to Peggy Deamer's work on architecture and labor. I shared these early, so they're my own interpretations, not direct quotes or verified claims from her work. I'm reading Architecture and Labor and will revisit this in a future episode.

Resources Mentioned: 

• Deamer, Peggy. Architecture and Labor https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9780429325182/architecture-labor-peggy-deamer
• Deamer, Peggy, ed. Architecture and Capitalism https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9780203499023/architecture-capitalism-peggy-deamer
• Kendall, Mikki. Hood Feminism https://bookshop.org/p/books/hood-feminism-notes-from-the-women-that-a-movement-forgot-mikki-kendall/0b59e0604ec65bd8

Meet Our Guests:

Mackenzie Coulthard is a Montana–based designer and graduate of Montana State University with a Master's degree in Architecture. She is interested in holistic design approaches that respond to human health, environmental responsibility, and natural resources. Originally from a small agricultural town in Northern California rooted in viticulture, Mackenzie brings a deep appreciation for land-based industries and rural life as she pursues work that aligns with her values.

Tessa Coughenour is a Montana–based designer and graduate of Montana State University, where she earned her Master's degree in Architecture. She is currently finding her niche within the field and has a passion for combining health and architecture—learning to design in ways that can heal and nurture our bodies naturally. Architecture can have tremendous impacts on people, and learning how to create beneficial and lasting effects is the journey she is on!

Contact: Email: [email protected] Instagram: @internalarchitecture_podcast

This episode starts off with a guided spatial exercise, followed by some quick and dirty architectural theory, followed by a case made for interdependence. Internal architecture bridges the internal and the external, exploring work that is both intimate and professional, abstract and practical. This episode is just the beginning to future conversations we will have on this topic in the future! 

Resources |

 Books

• "Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed" by James C. Scott (source of vernacular vs. official order concepts)
• "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" by Jane Jacobs
• "When No Thing Works" by Norma Wong

 Videos

• Roberts Architecture: Form Follows Function  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaxODmFnN6U

Key Quote: "We must connect in the underground and weave our roots together so that we survive these storms." - Alixa Garcia <---- Check out her work <3

Contact & Social |

• Instagram: @internalarchitecture_podcast
• Email: [email protected]
• Patreon: patreon.com/internalarchitecture

Show Notes | 

00:00 - Introduction & Guided Spatial Exercise 

09:40 - The God Complex & Case Studies in Failed Simplification

13:30 - "Form Follows Function" Evolution

16:17 - Introducing "Form Follows Process"

19:48 - Centering Change

22:11 - Building Beyond the Wall

23:56 - Three Core Practices & Closing

For today's episode we have our very first guest Danae Filpula Ankney speaking about her experience in grad school, job search, and her current position in architecture. She shares grounded insight and reflection that will help listeners to step into a confident mindset and take ownership for their education and career. This isn't a story shared without the struggle and humanity of the process. This interview is followed by a Building Wisdom segment where we demolish perfectionism and understand it's relationship to white supremacy culture. It's experimental, honest, and definitely imperfect – which is exactly the point.

Danae Filpula Ankney is a design professional with a unique perspective on the importance of thoughtful, empathetic design that also respects the beautiful natural environments that surround us. 

Resources for Your Own Journey
 
Essential Reading & Exploration

• Tema Okun: "White Supremacy Culture"  chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.sbctc.edu/resources/documents/about/edi/white-supremacy-culture-tema-okun.pdf 
  www.dismantlingracism.com
   
• Adrienne Maree Brown: "A Word for White People in Two Parts" 
  https://adriennemareebrown.net/2020/06/28/a-word-for-white-people-in-two-parts/
  Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PrAq4iBNb4nVIcTsLcNlW8zjaQXBLkWayL8EaPlh0bc/edit?tab=t.0

Enchanting podcast recommendation

• Sounds of Sand Podcast: Episode 58 On Extinction & Enchantment with Alixa García  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/58-on-extinction-enchantment-alixa-garc%C3%ADa/id1643318607?i=1000632698525

Topics

00:00 Introduction

05:22 - 41:41 Conversation with Danae: Surviving Architecture School & Landing Your Dream Job

41:41 - 01:14:56 Breaking Down Perfectionism: Personal Stories & Practical Tools

Let's Build!

• Behind the Scenes Magic: https://www.patreon.com/posts/behind-scenes-at-135875889?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link https://www.patreon.com/c/internalarchitecture/about
• Instagram @internalarchitecture_podcast
• Your Stories & Questions: [email protected] (I read every single one!)

 “As a recovering perfectionist and an aspiring good-enoughist, I’ve found it extremely helpful to bust some of the myths about perfectionism so that we can develop a definition that accurately captures what it is and what it does to our lives. Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be your best. Perfectionism is not about healthy achievement and growth. Perfectionism is the belief that if we live perfect, look perfect, and act perfect, we can minimize or avoid the pain of blame, judgment, and shame. It’s a shield. Perfectionism is a twenty-ton shield that we lug around thinking it will protect us when, in fact, it’s the thing that’s really preventing us from taking flight. Perfectionism is not self-improvement. Perfectionism is, at its co

In this very first episode, Cassandra Brown explores and introduces Internal Architecture. Emphasizing the importance of self-discovery, education outside of convention, our voice as designers, and the power of everyday conversations. 

She sets the foundation for what it means to bring our full selves to practice and education in the field - to challenge existing narratives and use systems thinking to create active change in our daily lives.