Oak Keeper Acorn Granary

TATA Design Workshop

“This project embraces the spirit of experimentation. It proposes an agricultural application beneath the canopy of a forest, suggesting that architecture can emerge through careful observation of local ecologies rather than by imposing itself upon them. It is simultaneously a pavilion, a prototype, and a promise of future work.” 

—Jimenez Lai

Acorn Granary is a vessel for storing sustenance that reimagines an Indigenous architectural typology alongside that of the industrial grain hopper. Situated beneath the tree canopy of Rice University, this installation invites us to think about oaks and acorns, which host a wide range of insects and animals and are part of our own heritage and the story of this land. The Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) is an ecological architect of the Rice campus. However, the abundance of its mast—the seasonal dropping of acorns—is often overlooked. The granary highlights this metabolic labor by inviting passersby to participate in the harvest. Visitors are encouraged to gather fallen acorns from the surrounding Live Oak guilds and deposit them into the structure.