Courtney Allary
What do you do in your current job?
My job falls somewhere in the middle of interior designer, intern architect and cultural consultant. My work responsibilities have me in production for various projects, working mostly in Revit, in all phases of design from concept and feasibility through to construction documents. As 1 of 6 Indigenous practitioners in the Indigenous Design Studio, about 80% of my projects are working with First Nations, Indigenous organizations and non-profits, or for projects where Indigenous people will be highly represented as users, so these projects include lots of research, travel to communities, engagement sessions, and continual input from community members. I have also worked on various cultural marker and graphic design projects where clients sought to address different Indigenous cultural connections to the land and people in places like parks and educational institutions.
What are you doing right now that you are most excited about?
At the moment, I’m working on an extremely wide variety of projects, the scopes of which are ranging from primarily architectural, landscape design, traditional structures, and interior renovations. One project I’m particularly proud to work on has not been announced officially but it will contain transitional community housing for 2 Spirit / LGBTQQIA+ individuals fleeing gender-based violence. It was the first major project I helped lead the design on in Concept development that was later greenlit for total funding and construction will (fingers crossed) begin in 2025. In another soon to be announced project, I created a series of CNC and laser etched beadwork patterns for a Parks Canada identity package that will be rolling out on signage and structures in one of its parks to help relink its traditional connections to the land.
What is your proudest achievement since graduation?
The first was being awarded the Architectural Research Centers Consortium King Student Medal for my practicum research, since it was the best way to finish an extensive journey through education and research. It was an honour to both receive an award that considered students Faculty wide and be recognized for challenging research to reflect the needs of my Indigenous kin and insisting on the idea of using research as a healing tool. The second has been having one of my real-life projects named by an Elder in ceremony for the first time. This design was heavily influenced by the community, I created the concept images in the process, and the community’s Anishinaabe Elder embraced the vision and named the future project inspired by these renderings. To soon be able to see this name on a project that aims to help so many people will be one of my favorite accomplishments.
What advice would you give to those who are considering a career in interior design?
Interior Design is a perfect medium to specialize in a human-scale creative process that embraces other fields and design disciplines. It’s a profession where your personal interests and knowledge should be highly influential to the work you do. If your interests lie in many different areas of art and design, Interior Design is a great option for learning and practicing in multiple disciplines. One of the best lessons I’ve learned in my time within the profession is that good designers and design workplaces are less likely to completely separate the design fields and treat design as a holistic process where every discipline has valuable input toward the other. My work has never been only interior design; it’s engaged my interests and expertise in architecture, landscape design, urban planning, industrial design, and art making to help me learn and develop my practice, alongside a studio of multidisciplinary creative people. So it’s the best profession for those who are looking for something creative, diverse, multidisciplinary, and like working and learning with a team since that is the best way to continue building skills throughout your career.
What drew you to interior design? What do you love most about it?
I started out as I think a lot of people do – planning on a career in residential Interior Design since it was the most exposure I had to design as a job. I enjoyed the idea of a job where the work is consistently fresh and different since I think I wouldn’t thrive in a job that has a finite scope of work. Once I started in the Faculty and started understanding the breadth of opportunity within design, I grew more interested in designing institutional and other commercial-scale environments. Interior Design is the most impactful design discipline for the everyday behaviours and actions of living beings in architectural space, which I think is really impressive. Helping people find happiness in space they’ve created a vision for is really rewarding. As an Indigenous practitioner, creating spaces for my kin that are physically, psychologically and culturally comfortable and beautiful is so important and I’m grateful to be in a position where I get to help accomplish this every day.
How did your MID degree at the UM help to prepare you for your career?
I would say in addition to needing to learn to manage my time extremely well and growing good self-motivation skills, having a high amount of experience with Revit is one of the major reasons I was hired at Brook McIlroy. I think being very field relevant is something the ID department is doing really successfully and the program is only getting stronger at building skills to create hirable students and new professionals. The Masters program is also founded on critical analysis through coursework and practicum, which helps with so many aspects when beginning a career in the field. I’ve found it’s helped to be more knowledgeable and independent with tasks, which in turn builds the confidence to accept higher levels of responsibility. It’s also just as important to be a team member as it is to be a strong individual designer, so that experience was also very valuable.
What was the best part about your experience in the graduate program at the UM?
Two aspects come to mind- I think one is when I was finally able to absorb myself in the practicum process. Learning during coursework is valuable, but I appreciated being able to research and design for issues that were important to my experiences and interests where I was making all the decisions and scheduling myself. The second was helping found the first generation of the Indigenous Design and Planning Students’ Association (IDPSA). It was where I found the most courage and a place of reassurance in my own Indigeneity as a design student surrounded by like-minded Indigenous students, a few of which are some of my closest friends and coworkers today. It was what inspired me to learn and work toward being an Indigenous designer and diving into a practicum that challenged how research can impact Indigenous people in a more holistically beneficial way.
What was the most valuable lesson you learned at the UM?
After taking a year to recuperate from the Environmental Design program, I decided to apply for the ID Master’s program because I decided it was a career that still called to me. I hesitated starting to work in the field because I was so anxious about not knowing enough or didn’t have enough experience, which was silly because working is how you gain experience so don’t think like I did! The most valuable lesson I learned in the MID program was to stop doubting myself so much. I think the first clue should have been being accepted to the program, but the EnvD program was an incredibly tough experience, and it took a long time for me to be comfortable with my skills and intelligence when it came to design. My methods were closer to trying to make people happy rather than applying what I was learning in ways that I wanted to. So my practicum was the first time I looked at all the design and research I had been trusted to complete and was able to finally see successful work that I had ideated for and by myself. It’s important to learn to design free from inhibition and be as experimental as you can at this stage in your career- you will be mentored in the practice side of the work when it’s time. Mistakes are also important- in the ID program we are growing into professionals at solving problems, so we need experience at this too from time to time. Just absorb everything that’s given to you in the moment.