Reclaiming Erased Histories: Spatial Justice & Indigenous Presence in Seattle

Abstract

This thesis examines how Seattle’s urban fabric has been shaped by settler colonialism, racial capitalism, and overlapping processes of exclusion, erasure, and displacement. Indigenous, Asian American, and African American communities have historically been pushed to the margins of public space and collective memory through mechanisms such as land seizure, redlining, incarceration, internment, and speculative development. While many of these histories have been systematically erased from the city’s built environment, they persist through oral traditions, cultural practices, and neighborhood memory. The central problem addressed in this thesis is the ongoing invisibility of marginalized communities in Seattle’s public realm, where monuments and memorials often present partial or sanitized narratives. Although architecture and urban design have contributed to these forms of erasure, they also hold transformative potential as tools of repair capable of re-inscribing memory, reclaiming place, and restoring presence. Grounded in a decolonial framework, this project proposes a series of site-specific urban design interventions that seek to recover erased histories, strengthen Indigenous and marginalized community presence, and establish a spatial language of justice rooted in memory, resistance, and cultural continuity. Through mapping, archival research, and place-based storytelling, the project weaves memory into the city’s everyday fabric, making hidden histories visible, supporting cultural resurgence, and offering a model for spatial justice. These strategies collectively imagine a Seattle that remembers more fully and equitably.