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New Cherokee Heritage Center
New Cherokee Heritage Center
Park Hill, OK, United States
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Other Projects by Safdie Architects
New Cherokee Heritage Center
Park Hill, OK, United States
Firm
Type
STATUS
Concept
YEAR
2028
SIZE
100,000 sqft - 300,000 sqft
Established in 1967 by the Cherokee National Historical Society on the grounds of the former Cherokee Female Seminary, the Heritage Center served for more than five decades as the Nation’s principal cultural institution before closing in 2020. The new campus will transform the 43-acre site into a center for history and culture with a new museum, educational and genealogical spaces, communal gathering areas, and a research center. Over a multi-year engagement with the Nation, Safdie Architects’ developed a design that protects and preserves the legacy of the site while building upon it for the future in a way that integrates the project into the existing landscape.
Safdie Architects conceived the new Cherokee Heritage Center as a series of pavilions, nestled within the tree line and organized along a newly created crescent-shaped creek that traverses the site. The initial phase of the project includes exhibit and community spaces housed in pavilions of varying shapes and sizes, resulting in a series of experiences that are interwoven into the landscape. The tallest of the pavilions rises above the trees to serve as a beacon on the site and welcomes visitors as they approach the Heritage Center. The solid walls of the pavilions are cast with materials that evoke the color and layering of an earthen structure.
The creek, which is fed by rainwater harvested from the abutting pavilions, stitches together the diverse elements of the new Center, integrating native plantings and exhibits into one cohesive experience. At the center of the site stand the three remaining columns of the first Female Seminary—whose footprint is reimagined as a gathering place to commemorate the ground’s importance. Moving away from the Heritage Center, the site opens with interpretive trails that unite the project with a reconstructed Diligwa village, and other existing site features such as the Tsa-La-Gi amphitheater, designed by the first AIA recognized Cherokee architect Charles ‘Chief’ Boyd.
Safdie Architects conceived the new Cherokee Heritage Center as a series of pavilions, nestled within the tree line and organized along a newly created crescent-shaped creek that traverses the site. The initial phase of the project includes exhibit and community spaces housed in pavilions of varying shapes and sizes, resulting in a series of experiences that are interwoven into the landscape. The tallest of the pavilions rises above the trees to serve as a beacon on the site and welcomes visitors as they approach the Heritage Center. The solid walls of the pavilions are cast with materials that evoke the color and layering of an earthen structure.
The creek, which is fed by rainwater harvested from the abutting pavilions, stitches together the diverse elements of the new Center, integrating native plantings and exhibits into one cohesive experience. At the center of the site stand the three remaining columns of the first Female Seminary—whose footprint is reimagined as a gathering place to commemorate the ground’s importance. Moving away from the Heritage Center, the site opens with interpretive trails that unite the project with a reconstructed Diligwa village, and other existing site features such as the Tsa-La-Gi amphitheater, designed by the first AIA recognized Cherokee architect Charles ‘Chief’ Boyd.
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