Impressive new work from artist Neal Lucas Hitch, via designboom.

hitch designed and built the observatory with a method that focused on process. the program called for a circular space that blocks the visitor’s view of all man-made constructs and was built using traditional methods of stucco on straw bales. the form of the ring accommodates varying sizes of bales, changing sight conditions, and limited maneuvering of industrial equipment. after the bales were set into the foundation, they were unified with a stucco finish. the result is a structure which consists of myriad spaces and crevices that allow visitors to explore and utilize as they want. as described by the artist, it is a ‘primordial form that becomes an extension of the desert; as permanent as the world it dwells in’. 

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