Excerpt: In an interview with Pin-Up Magazine, Sámi artist and architect Joar Nango (b. 1979) explains that “colonization and architecture are not separate phenomena.” Nango makes the salient observation that no Sámi institution has been designed by Sámi architects, even though they certainly exist. Therefore, it is important to ask how Sáminess is represented in the architecture of these institutions and if this representation should be considered an appropriation or a contribution to Sámi culture. This essay will establish that the contemporaneity of Sámi architecture is characterized by a particular use of materials that is based on nomadic vernacular architecture, but brought into the future by critiquing colonial notions of land rooted in capitalism. Nango’s brilliant installation Sámi Shelters #1-5 (2009-2014) purposefully avoids this important architectural feature to critique the “Giant Lávvu Syndrome,” a popular appropriation of Sámi architecture that reduces an anti-colonial use of materials to mere form.