Snøhetta unveils gently sloping design for Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

Snøhetta has unveiled their proposal for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota. The firm is competing against Studio Gang and Henning Larsen for the commission.  Snøhetta's proposal is designed as "a journey through a preserved landscape of diverse habitats, punctuated with small pavilions providing spaces for reflection and activity," and is topped by a gently curving roof meant to evoke the rolling hills surrounding the library.   "The Library is the landscape," write the architects, explaining that the building's roof is fully accessible to visitors for day and night occupation. A "generous, covered porch" marks one end of the structure that overlooks nearby valley landscapes while a surrounding Library loop hiking path connects nearby trails and a series of pavilions designed by the architects. The entire ensemble—library, roof, trails, and pavilions—is seen by the designers as one unified, complimentary whole with each component responding to and enriching...