Dakota elders tell of the creation of humans occurring in our homeland of Minisota Makoce, but specifically at the place called Maka Cokaya Kin, or the Center of the Earth. This place is at Bdote, which means the joining or juncture of two bodies of water and in this instance refers to the area where the Minnesota River joins the Mississippi River.

Ten x Ten is working collaboratively with Leo A Daly for the design of Historic Fort Snelling at Bdote. The site is a short distance to either of the Twin Cities’ downtown cores and it adjoins multiple parks systems - Fort Snelling State Park and Minnehaha Regional Park. Perched on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River, the site offers powerful visual connections to the river and provides an opportunity to convey the deep history of the site through tactile connections with the landscape.

The vision of Historic Fort Snelling at Bdote is to inspire a better future by providing a place to learn, share and connect to all the complex stories that shape history in Minnesota. With a human history 10,000 years in the making, the area around Fort Snelling is the site of essential stories of our shared past — some well-known, others known by very few.

Historic Fort Snelling’s buildings and grounds do not serve the public well as the current visitor center is dilapidated and the dramatic blufftop views of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers’ confluence are hidden. A new comprehensive network of paths and gathering spaces weave across the landscape to connect the buildings with the landscape assets (the bluff, the river views, and existing and restored native plant communities) in more intuitive and meaningful ways. A re-configured parking lot and simplified arrival sequence will improve the visitor experience. The new paths and gathering areas provide for both group and individual experiences, creating a landscape experience that describes a much longer, layered history of this place as Dakota Homeland and a former military fort, where stories of indigenous people, trade, soldiers and veterans, enslaved people, and immigrants can co-exist.

team: TEN x TEN | Leo A. Daly | PVN

client: Minnesota Historical Society

location: Minneapolis, MN