Prairie Plots is an ongoing, living installation on the Rice University campus created in collaboration with the School of Architecture and Rice Facilities, Engineering, and Planning.

The project sits at the intersection of visual art, ecology, and community engagement, conceptualizing an alternative to a fixture of American culture: the ubiquitous mowed lawn. Maintaining the appearance of the highly sought-after cropped, homogenous, green grass, can harm both people and the environment. From water-intensive irrigation systems, toxic pesticides and fertilizers, and noxious fumes from gas-powered lawnmowers (which are responsible for 24% to 45% of all non-road related gasoline emissions), the cost of achieving this classic aesthetic extends far past the financial.

Expanding the collective imagination surrounding what a “lawn” can be, Prairie Plots replaces 10,000 square feet of existing campus lawn with prairie plant species endemic to the Texas Gulf Coast: Texas Coneflower (Rudbeckia texana), Blazing Star (Liatris spicata and Liatris acidota), Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens), and Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium), among others. Led by local landscape architecture and urban planning firm Dept. (co-founded by Isaac Stein and Rice School of Architecture faculty member Maggie Tsang), the project seeks to counteract the harm caused by the classic lawn typology through radical gardening and land care, with plants that require fewer chemical inputs, provide habitat for insects and birds, and store significant volumes of water in the soil with their deep root systems, reducing the impact of Houston’s frequent stormwater flooding.

Since its installation in Spring 2022, Prairie Plots has continuously evolved as a living laboratory for students, faculty, and community members alike, providing a range of research opportunities and even serving as the site for the university’s first-ever prescribed burn. The landmark moment demonstrated the practical applications of fire as a land management tool and blurred the lines between the formality of landscaping and the long-established cycles of maintenance and care that are infrequently practiced. Over the past several years, Prairie Plots has become a campus hotspot for biodiversity, providing the surrounding community with a seed source for rare and endemic plant species, along with important carbon sequestration and dramatic improvements of soil quality.

At large, the project has raised questions around building capacity for alternative land management practices, and engaged campus- and community- wide conversations on the cultural impact of ecological landscapes.

Project Credits:

The project was supported by Rice Architecture, Rice Facilities, Engineering, and Planning; Rice University Office for Research, and the Arboretum Committee. Prairie Plots would not exist without the care and tireless help of many community and student volunteers.

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