Architecture firms unveil competing designs for Roosevelt library in North Dakota — pick your favorite here

MEDORA, N.D. — For the first time, North Dakotans have an idea of how the proposed Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora might actually look.

Three well-known international architectural firms presented detailed design concepts on Monday, Aug. 17, at the library board's meeting in Medora.

Representatives from Chicago-based Studio Gang , Copenhagen-based Henning Larsen and Oslo-based Snøhetta gathered in the Old West-themed tourist town in western North Dakota to woo board members, potential donors and locals with high-definition renderings of their unique approaches to the project. The board named the firms as finalists in May for a design competition that will culminate in a winner next month.

Several big names attended the presentations Monday, including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, first lady Kathryn Burgum, board member Melani Walton and her husband, Rob Walton, an heir to the Walmart fortune and one of the richest people in the world. The governor has expressed a great deal of enthusiasm for the project and spearheaded an eventually successful effort to set aside public funding for it.

Snøhetta started off the presentations, which were held outside due to COVID-19 concerns. The firm has garnered praise and public attention for creative projects, including Europe's first underwater restaurant and several notable opera houses and libraries. The award-winning firm also integrates landscape architecture, interior design, graphics, branding and product design into its operations.

The firm's design concept is rooted in simple pieces of nature found near the proposed site. As firm founder and lead architect Craig Dykers describes it, two unattached pebbles make up the interior of the library, while a leaf lies over the structure as a roof and "protector."

The design attempts to blend the library into the terrain of the North Dakota Badlands, while respecting the ecological environment of the site and emphasizing the expansive views of the rugged scenery. The walkable roof features natural grasses commonly found in the surrounding prairie landscape.

The design concept includes several hiking trails and boardwalks that lead to outdoor pavilions. Dykers also envisions a tram from downtown Medora in addition to maintaining a parking lot outside the library.

Studio Gang presented second on Monday. The firm was founded by Jeanne Gang, who was named one of TIME Magazine 's 100 most influential people in 2019. One of Gang's principal works, the Aqua tower in Chicago, is the tallest building ever designed by a woman. Her company has also completed a number of smaller scale projects that it calls "community-centered cultural institutions."

The firm's namesake introduced a design concept that draws inspiration from the same kind of horseshoes that Roosevelt may have put on his horses while managing a ranch in North Dakota. From above, the design appears as three horseshoes that overlap in the middle to create a dome.

The design aims to reflect the textures of the surrounding nature and thematically recount the story of Roosevelt's life through the main building's floor scheme. A visitor to the library would enter the building to find an "orientation campfire" that feeds into different exhibits. Gang's proposal also promotes alternative energy like solar power and emphasizes the rebuilding of historic ecosystems and natural vegetation.

The firm's concept includes a 1-mile trail from downtown Medora to the library with attractions and natural wonders, dubbed "breadcrumbs," that "dissolves distance" between the landmarks.

The final firm to present, Henning Larsen, has designed projects all over the world, including Moesgaard Museum in Aarhus, Denmark, and the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland. The firm with a "Scandinavian ethos" has recently won the European Prize for Architecture and several other prestigious awards.

Architect Michael Sørensen said the firm's design concept is inspired by the ancient geological formations of the Badlands, the richness of the North Dakota sky and the impactful life Roosevelt led. The proposal includes four separate buildings to allow the landscape to flow through the library campus. The layered levels of each building aim to reveal unique vantage points of the surrounding scenery by constantly changing the visitor's eye level view.

A visitor to Henning Larsen's vision of the library would be taken through "the Hero's Journey," a sequential trip through Roosevelt's life that is "punctuated by major interaction points with the landscape."

Landscape architect Thomas Woltz, who is partnering with the firm, said the goal of the design is immersion in nature and making the library "a landscape experience" in itself. The concept encourages horseback riding around the buildings, kayaking on the Little Missouri River and hiking or biking along the adjacent Maah Daah Hey Trail.

Woltz said the design exemplifies Roosevelt's legacy of conservation and fulfills the goal he takes into every project to build strong emotional connections between people and place.

"We've discovered ... the power that Theodore Roosevelt found in this place to change his life for the better and to choose a life of action," Woltz said. "The most powerful result could be if we make the world a better place because people have come, they've heard his story, they've been touched by this experience and they go out into their own arena, as big as that could possibly be, and transform the world."

Each firm is being paid $50,000 and reimbursed for travel to Medora. Once selected, the winning firm will negotiate a fee with the board.

Last year, state lawmakers approved a $50 million endowment for the project that only becomes available if the library foundation can raise $100 million in private donations by the beginning of next year's legislative session in January.

Library foundation CEO Ed O'Keefe would not share how much the foundation has raised but said "I can confidently say that the T.R. library will raise the $100 million" before time runs out. O'Keefe added that publicly unveiling renderings and 3-D printed dioramas of the design proposals will likely generate more excitement from potential donors.

The foundation must also acquire the proposed 50-acre site that lies a few hundred yards from the amphitheater used for the well-known Medora Musical and about 1.5 miles from downtown Medora. The land is currently owned by the U.S. Forest Service, which leases much of it to nearby ranchers who use it to graze cattle and horses. O'Keefe said he is very confident the foundation will be able to acquire the site, but he noted that the process may take a few more months.

O'Keefe said the foundation plans to break ground on the project by the end of 2021 and have the library open in 2024 or 2025.

As the name suggests, the proposed library is meant to honor and recount the complex story of Theodore Roosevelt, the one-time governor of New York who became the 26th president of the United States. As a young man, Roosevelt spent parts of three years hunting and ranching in the North Dakota Badlands before his career in national politics.