North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library will redefine what a presidential library can be

Were it not for his experience in North Dakota, Theodore Roosevelt said he never would have become president of the United States. After his first wife and mother died on the same day in 1884, the eventual 26th president retreated to modern-day North Dakota to mourn and reflect. 

Next July, more than a century after Roosevelt’s death, a presidential library in his honor is slated to open in the state that held so much significance in his life. And the visionaries behind the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library hope a visit to the Medora, North Dakota-based library will prove as restorative to people in the modern era as this area once was for Roosevelt. 

That may seem an ambitious goal, but this project offers an opportunity to expand the definition of what a presidential library can be, says Edward O’Keefe, chief executive officer of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation. It was only fitting to take a land-first approach when celebrating a man who is synonymous with conservation and the national park system, he says.

“We wanted to build a place where you can learn about, and from, Theodore Roosevelt, where you can connect with friends and family and nature so you can decide what change you want to see in the world,” O’Keefe tells Fast Company. He wrote the book, The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt, which was released earlier this month.

‘SOMETHING DYNAMICALLY DIFFERENT’

Though there was talk of building a Roosevelt library for years, the idea started to take shape in March 2020 when the foundation launched a design competition. That COVID-era timing proved serendipitous, O’Keefe says, because it made the power of creating a place that would serve as a convening point all the more relevant. Later that year, Snøhetta, an Oslo-based architectural firm, was unanimously selected as design architect. 

“This is not a museum with only artifacts under glass. It is meant to be an experience,” O’Keefe says. “There’s no point in building a presidential library to a president who has been gone for over 100 years unless you’re going to do something dynamically different and for the future.” 

Among the design elements that make this library different from others is its roof, featuring dozens of native plant species that will help the building blend seamlessly into the prairie landscape. The coming weeks will mark a milestone in the construction process—that’s when more than 28,000 plant plugs will be planted on the roof, which spans about three football fields in length, currently planned for June 6.

The library’s architecture was inspired by a leaf atop two pebbles and is almost identical to the initial design, says Craig Dykers, lead architect for the project and co-founder of Snøhetta. Once completed, people can ascend to the top of the roof for a view of the surrounding Badlands, the nearby Theodore Roosevelt National Park, nighttime stargazing and, eventually, events.

“I can tell you, it’s such a dramatic experience,” Dykers tells Fast Company, adding that it was important to foster a direct connection with nature that Roosevelt enjoyed. “It sort of purifies your soul and allows you to see things in a unique way.”

Beyond the roof, the butte where the library is situated is being restored to how it might have looked when Roosevelt came west, with native grasses that are more resilient in what can be a harsh and windy environment. Local ranchers have also been consulted as part of the design process and will experiment with grazing cattle and bison on the 93-acre site.

A LIVING BUILDING

The library is pursuing full certification from the International Living Future Institute as part of its Living Building Challenge, the most advanced measure of sustainability. The project will serve as a model of self-sufficiency, featuring zero energy, zero emissions, zero water, and zero waste sustainability aspects.

Inside the library are walls made from rammed earth, or soil that’s been compressed. It’s the first time in modern times this ancient technique has been used in North Dakota, and a team based out of nearby Dickinson came together to learn how to make these walls, Dykers says.

From the walls to the roof and beyond, the living building is intentionally tactile so that visitors feel a connection with nature that’s pervasive. In such ways, the design draws as much inspiration from the uniqueness of the land as it does the uniqueness of the man. 

SLOWING DOWN

In addition to pouring through a wealth of biographies, academic research, and Roosevelt’s speeches and writings, Dykers sought to better understand how that time in North Dakota helped break the president’s spell of mourning. So the architect embarked on a nearly two-week solo hike during COVID-era lockdowns in the national park and surrounding area. 

“To be in that place was so powerful to me, and that’s exactly what happened to Teddy Roosevelt,” Dykers says. 

Even if many people aren’t inclined to do the same, a kidney-shaped cultural loop that surrounds the library will ensure visitors can appreciate the land from different perspectives, Dykers notes. That’s because the design is unusual in that it’s essentially flat, even though the land is not, which allows people to experience the rolling landscape in a unique way, he adds. 

“We’re trying to slow people down, so they look down at their feet for a moment or look across the horizon for a moment, to get a different sense of time,” Dykers says. “North Dakota has an exceptional horizon.”

INSPIRING VISITORS

For O’Keefe, who grew up in North Dakota, leading the foundation after a 20-year stint as a media executive has been a coming home of sorts. The future library and surrounding land will be an opportunity to introduce more people to his beloved home state.

Just as Mount Rushmore has become a landmark destination in South Dakota, O’Keefe envisions the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library someday becoming the same for North Dakota. And drawing people together in a place that held almost-spiritual significance for Roosevelt may have the same effect for those who embrace it, O’Keefe says. 

“The design is evocative of this purpose in bringing people together and exposing them to nature and trying to inspire them to live more purposeful lives,” O’Keefe says. “The journey is the destination.”

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