The Flint Hills Studio, taught by Phoenix-based architect Wendell Burnette centered around the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Chase County, Kansas. The rocky landscape of the Kansas Flint Hills prevented early settlers from plowing the land, leading to a grazing culture that has largely preserved the native grasses. The goal of the studio was to engage the landscape, viewing "context as the malleable material." The program consists of a visitors center, hotel, and resort. Perched along the Fox Creek, the guest rooms look from the shelter of the trees into the tall dense grasses of a restored bottomland prairie to the west and onto the rocky prairie uplands to the east.

I maintained a blog for our studio at http://flinthills2011studio.wordpress.com