Douglas Cardinal is a Canadian architect best known for his distinctive “organic architecture.” His style draws from his Métis and Blackfoot Indigenous heritage, as well as European Expressionist architecture. Douglas graduated with a degree in architecture from the University of Texas at Austin in 1963 and set up his own practice a year later. Striving to create complex, organic forms, Douglas became a forerunner in the use of computer-aided design, leading his firm to become one of the first to computerize in the 1970s. His vision of architecture has produced some of Canada’s most iconic buildings, among them St. Mary’s Church (1968), the architect’s first major project, sited near his hometown in Alberta, Canada; and the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Canada (1989–1999), which earned him the prestigious Order of Canada.