THE PLOT PROJECT interfaces with the Mill Race Center (MRC) and its surrounding landscapes to place the Center’s diverse activities and the latent biodiversity of the park into public dialogue.

By extending and inscribing the shape of the MRC building into the landscape, we define an arc approximately 1250’ in length, covering a half-acre of ground. This zone is subdivided into 12 plots that serve as testing beds for landscape rewilding experiments that are initially cultivated over the course of a 9-month growing season. Some plots are left unmown to grow feral, while others are prepped and over-seeded with mixes of native warm-season grasses. Bands of wildflowers, which were seeded with a mix of native and naturalized annuals and perennials, highlight the transition between plots.

Along the outside curve of the rewilded area, survey poles are arrayed at 25’ intervals, allowing the geometry of the arc to be clearly legible from the ground. At three points along the arc, over-scaled seating structures are positioned as anchors. Riffing on the mid-century formal architectural heritage and color palette of Columbus, the three conservation outreach stations invite both individual reflection and social interaction.