• Location: St. Paul, Minnesota

At the Science Museum of Minnesota, our challenge was to use exclusively native plant materials in an urban setting. The entire plaza was also a deck for the underground parking below.

For the plant palette, we selected several xeric prairie plants native to the local River Bluff. A monoculture of Little Bluestem gives the wild planting a simple and neat appearance. Bold massings and intentional geometric arrangement helps people to perceive the planting and then introduces plants with form, colors and textures that are rarely used in a downtown streetscape.