Center for Global Climate Change

This project is a competition entry. The charge was to design a Center for Global Climate Change that would serve as an education center and headquarters for the Will Steger Foundation. The site is along the shore of White Bear Lake, Minnesota. The proposal rings indoor classrooms, offices, and other resource spaces around a central outdoor courtyard. Outdoor classrooms and gardens, as well as a small guest house and a shelter for sled dogs are scattered throughout the rest of the site. Across the main road, three circular jetties jut out into the lake and serve as mooring spots for boats and campfire circles for nighttime stargazing and storytelling. The playful architecture is inspired by nature found on the site like Echinacea and Passion flowers. Photographs of flowers by Karl Blossfeldt, the art of Wassily Kandinsky, Alexander Calder, and the environmental artwork of Robert Smithson influenced the project.