Snøhetta has unveiled the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota, a cultural institution conceived as a home for history and living biological repository. Designed to honour the American president whose time in the Badlands shaped his lifelong commitment to conservation, the project invites visitors to experience the landscape that inspired Roosevelt while actively contributing to its restoration.
The library's ecological mission began before construction, in 2022, Snøhetta, together with ecologists, landscape architects and community volunteers, launched an ambitious prairie conservation initiative, collecting seeds from more than 200 native plant species across North Dakota's Badlands. Many of these species have become increasingly rare or are no longer commercially available. The seeds are being cultivated before being replanted across the library site, restoring a resilient, locally adapted prairie ecosystem. Surplus seeds will also be distributed throughout the region, extending the project's impact beyond the building and supporting wider biodiversity efforts. As Snøhetta explains, "Through its ongoing maintenance and cultivation, the site landscape will act as a laboratory and biological repository for the flora of the Badlands."
The Library visitor experience was conceived as an unfolding journey that embeds visitors in a sense of place. Visitors move through the landscape before entering the galleries, while the accessible roof and elevated boardwalks encourage continued exploration of the natural surroundings beyond the library walls. In a design feat, the 96000 square foot library becomes part of the terrain, with two mass-timber volumes tucked beneath a single planted roof that studio co-founder Craig Dykers likens to "a leaf resting on two stones". Constructed primarily from mass timber and rammed earth sourced from the region, the library has been designed to meet the rigorous Living Building Challenge, one of the world's highest standards for regenerative architecture.
