US architecture firm Studio Gang has revealed design for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, the firm is among the three finalists as well as Henning Larsen Architects and Snøhetta, which was announced in May 2020. 

Henning Larsen, Snøhetta, and Studio Gang were selected from 12 firms that affirmatively responded to the T.R. Library Request for Qualifications (RFQ), which was made public in April. 

The new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library will be built in Medora, North Dakota - a US state in the midwestern and northern regions of the United States.

Working with landscape architecture studio OLIN, the team's Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library is conceived as a basecamp embedded in the North Dakota Badlands—a transformative gathering place where immersion in T.R.’s story and the surrounding environment brings people together to find common ground and inspires and equips them to launch back into the world with renewed passion and purpose.

The studio integrated building volumes with the immersive nature and conceived each volume as part of the volume landscape. "Like one of the Badlands’ fantastic rock formations, the building emerges from the land as if carved away by water and wind," said Studio Gang in its project description. 

The building is composed of three, horseshoe-shaped elements that organize the different functions of the Library. Each horseshoe houses the distinct activities on the inside while simultaneously embracing the dramatic outdoor environment, creating protected gardens and terraces that offer varied views of the landscape, showcase native plant communities, and provide habitat for wildlife.

"Our design is inspired by T.R.’s dual love of learning and the outdoors. As the first Presidential Library attached to a National Park, the project is poised to foster greater understanding, environmental stewardship, and healing in one of North America’s most incredible natural places," said Jeanne Gang, Studio Gang Founding Principal.

"Intimately connected with the ecology of the North Dakota Badlands, Basecamp will at once draw people inward for intellectual exchange and direct them outward for physical exploration, allowing them to discover new connections with each other and the natural world," she added. 

The spaces between the volumes act like the cracks in the Badlands’ clay-rich soil, allowing light and air to enter the interior. 

At the building’s heart, the three horseshoes tilt upward to form a grand, dome-like central space from which all of the activities of the Library can be seen and explored.

"Importantly, the design treats architecture and landscape as symbiotic and intimately connected with the site’s greater ecology," added the studio. 

"Informed by nature’s means of resilience in the harsh conditions of the Badlands, the project’s passive and active green strategies work together to achieve a net-zero, carbon-neutral Library with a healthy, inspiring environment full of natural light and fresh air." 

Studio Gang's design integrates an ecological restoration and management plan for the entire site that will heal and renew the surrounding ecosystems over time, making the Library a living model for how people, wildlife, and agriculture can coexist and thrive.

The competition, run by the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation, selected three finalists to further develop designs in late May, 2020. The winning design will be selected in late September 2020.

All images courtesy of Studio Gang

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