Maker of ecologically attuned experimental designs and creator of anomalous experiences via visually disruptive constructions, i/thee is an architectural practice that remains cognisant of the commonalities amongst disparate sentient and non-sentient entities. Founded by designer, builder and educator Neal Lucas Hitch, designer Martin Francis Hitch and designer and educator Kristina Fisher, i/thee is a collaborative practice that seeks to “bestow equal agency to all parties involved,” as shared with STIR previously. The ‘family and friends design collaborative’, based in Phoenix, Arizona, is currently working to physically manifest the ARTocka Trail Loop in Bondurant, Iowa, USA.

In 2023, i/thee won an invited competition to develop the ARTocka Trail Loop. Their master plan for the trail loop includes six transformative ecological art installations mirroring the essence of familiar domestic spaces such as the foyer, living room, gallery, dining room, garden and patio. “These installations are not just structures but rooms that invite the community to perceive these parks as an extension of their lived space. Each space reflects the essence of its label, capturing the essence of domestic comfort while honouring the untamed beauty of the park,” the studio shares in their official release.

By transposing the intimate domestic spaces to a public arena, i/thee seeks to stimulate the comfort and familiarity of a private space while encouraging interactions amongst individuals frequenting the location. "These installations stand as monuments to Bondurant’s collective identity, forging a visual narrative that binds the city closer to the land, water and each other. Building off the hometown feel of the city, each installation plays upon communal spaces typically found in a house and scales it to the size of the community park,” the American architecture practice reveals as part of their mission statement for the project.

For the trail loop, Group Creatives developed an open call-out for six art installations surrounding Lake Petocka, an artificial water body in Bondurant. Just like Lake Petocka—created via human intervention—has grown into an essential part of the local ecology and community, i/thee’s large-scale art installations, too, seek to bridge the gap between human-made and natural objects by inviting natural phenomena to serve as an active participant in the pavilions' design process and the final fixtures.

Hence, beyond adhering to the overall project conceptualisation of reinterpreting domestic spaces in the public domain, the six public installations are designed to engage with the local ecology, either via their placement in proximity to the surrounding water body or through the treatment of the installation surfaces such that they remain in flux in tandem with the changing atmosphere or react to occasional natural occurrences such as rainfall. Commenting upon the role of water in the installation designs, i/thee shares, officially, “Embracing the dynamic interplay of water, these installations choreograph a dance with the elements. Water is not a passive backdrop but an active participant, shaping the forms and influencing the experience. Its presence amplifies the synergy between design and environment, creating a narrative where architecture harmonises with the fluidity of the natural world.”

The six installations conceptualised by i/thee include The Dining Room, The Garden, The Patio, The Foyer, The Living Room and The Gallery. While The Dining Room installation was completed in the summer of 2024, The Patio is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2025. Further, construction for The Garden installation is scheduled for completion by the summer of 2026. The schedules for the other three installations will be finalised later on.

The Garden is a fractal-shaped boardwalk that meanders around and through sculpted floating gardens on Lake Petocka. “Designed using a differential growth algorithm that mirrors natural undulations, it blends traditions of land art and parametric design," the architects elaborate in the project brief. Much like the joyful and sentimental experiences within one’s domestic garden, this installation, with seating, a kayak launch and a fishing outpost integrated at the edge of the lake, offers disparate natural views for visitors as well as both reflective and delightful ways for residents to engage with the water body and with each other.

The Foyer, too, is designed to sit on the shoreline of Lake Petocka. It also serves as the southernmost entrance to the site. The installation features a series of bending archways inspired by the gentle waves of the lake. Designed to sit partially within the water body, The Foyer will be a visual link from the land to the lake and a floating sculpture that can be kayaked around during the summer. In the winter, however, when the lake freezes over, the sculptural installation will serve as a literal connection—a pedestrian tunnel leading one from the entrance towards the centre of the lake.

The Living Room installation, to be stationed at the northern entrance, comprises a series of three 3D-printed sculptures. “Each form captures a fleeting moment of one liquid body moving within another, created by pouring hot wax into freezing water, where it solidifies instantly. These wax forms are digitally scanned, enlarged, and 3D-printed at a massive scale, suspending an ephemeral liquid state in time,” the architects explain to STIR. Amidst these sculptures lies a space for refuge and rest.

The Gallery installation is, again, a shaded expanse. It is designed to host art exhibitions and sheltered gatherings. The parametrically designed pavilion features a roof made out of scalloped panels that will change colour with changing temperatures. With its evolving chromatic character, the rooftop seeks to impart immersive experiences reflective of the season and temperature.

The Patio, marking the trail entrance to Mud Creek, comprises three sculptural forms—a bench, a table and a canopy—that come together to serve as a functional gathering. All three components will be crafted from site-cast resin and concrete. The organically shaped resin canopies will be cast on the ground into free forms without any formwork and lifted above the pillars. The transparent material, floating above the concrete seats, is imagined to resemble a solidified creek frozen in time. Capturing ephemeral geological processes, the canopy will serve as a memorable etching of the landscape.

Lastly, The Dining Room, the only installation that has been constructed, emulates the setting of traditional dining spaces, albeit with a rammed earth wall interrupting the elongated table. Serving as a symbolic communal hub, the experimental earthen pavilion architecture reserves space for public dining and picnics in the vicinity of Lake Petocka.

The two self-supporting rammed earth walls have been built using locally sourced sand, clay and gravel, all of which were mixed on-site and compacted layer by layer into formwork. Upon completion, the architects used a high-pressure water sprayer to strategically erode the walls. The pressure exerted on the walls emulates natural causes, such as wind and water, that lead to the creation of disparate geomimetic morphologies.

Further, the architects utilised advanced digital tools such as 3D scanning, along with traditional techniques such as timber scribing, to graft the 30 ft. long table and benches onto the eroded walls. The resultant installation creates the illusion of the blue table emerging from beneath the eroded walls, as though it has been excavated.

The installation is designed to remain in flux, with strategic erosion breaks set into the walls to allow them to evolve. This means that the wall will continue to evolve over time, letting the environment become co-creators in this evolving design process. When asked how the sturdiness of the rammed earth architecture is ensured against its ephemeral nature, the studio shares with STIR, “Live eroded edges are designed to respond and change over time in reaction to active environmental forces like wind and rain. The non-eroded portions of the wall are capped with concrete to prevent erosion and stabilised with eight per cent cement.”

The installation, hence, also exemplifies the benefits, versatility and feasibility of rammed earth construction in a humid continental climate. Featuring as one of Iowa's first public rammed earth projects, it serves as a model for subsequent earthen buildings.

Project Details

Name: ARTocka Trail Loop
Location: Bondurant, Iowa
Client: The City of Bondurant, Iowa
Architect: i/thee
Project Leads: Neal Lucas Hitch, Kristina Fisher, Martin Hitch
Project Team for ‘The Dining Room’: Varun Gandhi, Riley Wines, Claire Leffler
Collaborating Companies for ‘The Dining Room’: Schlaich Bergermann Partner (Engineering)
Gross Built Area of ‘The Dining Room’: 500 sq.ft.
Year of Completion: 2024 (The Dining Room)