Occult Prairie is a design proposal that aims to re-discover the lost spaces of Calgary through the diverse and dynamic forms of native prairie plants. These plants once blanketed the land where the city now stands and played a pivotal role in the culture and ecology of native communities, yet any reference to this original landscape seems to have been lost in the transition from rural to urban. 

Our proposal uses the 412 bus route through the city as the link between each of the proposed sites. Moving from large scale underpasses to contemporary art venues to the otherwise forgettable bus stops along the way, the 412 route offers myriad opportunities for exhibiting the various forms of these exceptional prairie natives. 

Where infrastructure rises up from the ground, pillars reveal the complex root systems of these mysterious plants. Where softscaping can be executed, block planting of one or two prairie species help define spaces and bring tactile, temporal and sensory experiences to otherwise transient locations. The aim of this project is to reclaim the city’s lost spaces with the area’s original residents. 

Our proposal spans several locations throughout the city in an effort to incorporate both social and ecological outcomes to the overall project. Occult Prairie will highlight the city’s public transit capabilities, encourage passengers to be more aware of their city, and awaken the ecologically bankrupt spaces along the route by transforming them into micro-patches displaying native perennial vegetation. Even on a small scale, re-introducing these native prairie plants can have a signficant impact on soil quality and invertebrate populations while also encouraging pollinators to enhance the city’s ecological fabric. 

Deriving inspiration from the work of Botanist J.E Weaver, Agricultural Ecologist Dr. Jerry Glover and photographer Jim Richardson, our interpretation and subsequent revelation of prairie ecology incorporates historical landscapes and remarkable plant life back into a community from which it has been long since forgotten.