Habitat Recovery Project

Nov 2024 - Present

For two weeks, this Bioconstruction Workshop was held for a community at the US epicenter of the climate crisis. Participants learned to build using natural, reclaimed, non-toxic materials instead of petroleum-based building products.

During this workshop, 65 people learned about Indigenous building practices, bioconstruction techniques and materials. Building materials were upcycled, sustainably sourced, or natural materials like Spanish Moss, clay, sand, and straw.

This project repurposed hundreds of gently used glass bottles into bottle bricks to create beautiful windows, in a structure that came to be known, colloquially, as an Earth Church.For two weeks, this Bioconstruction Workshop was held for a community at the US epicenter of the climate crisis. Participants learned to build using natural, reclaimed, non-toxic materials instead of petroleum-based building products. During this workshop, 65 people learned about Indigenous building practices, bioconstruction techniques and materials. Building materials were upcycled, sustainably sourced, or natural materials like Spanish Moss, clay, sand, and straw. This project repurposed hundreds of gently used glass bottles into bottle bricks to create beautiful windows, in a structure that came to be known, colloquially, as an Earth Church.

Education · Cobb · Light Straw-Clay · Cordwood · Timber Frame · Chainsaw · Bottle Brick · Natural plaster · Earthen plaster · Lime plaster · Bousillage · Building Envelope

Kentucky Rooted

The work will be partially embedded into the earth, evoking the form and feeling of a cave—both as a literal geological feature of Kentucky and as a metaphor for the unconscious, the ancestral, and the unseen. Inspired by Kentucky’s rich geological history and cultural landscape, including references drawn from Appalachian folklore and the mythic sensibility found in works like Old Gods of Appalachia and Kentucky Route Zero, Terra Corpus will be both a place of stillness and a site for storytelling.

Terra Corpus is a site-specific sculptural gathering space designed as a vessel for resonance, healing, and communal experience, centering the feminine aspect of creation. Located on a regenerative farm in a high fire-hazard area, the work acknowledges cycles of depletion and renewal in both the land and its communities. The farm is stewarded by first-generation American farmer Natasha Khallouf, of Nicaraguan and Lebanese descent, who has spent seven years restoring the soil and ecosystem while conducting education and outreach, particularly for women and people of color from the Bay Area.

The sculpture takes an elliptical form, recessed into the earth, reminiscent of conversation pits, amphitheaters, and mining excavations. Encircled by a nest-like weaving of fallen branches and anchored by adobe walls, the structure emphasizes inclusivity, continuity, and cyclical rhythms. The excavation itself is a statement—shaping the land not for extraction but for gathering and resonance. Aligned with sunlight, prevailing winds, and water pathways, the space deepens its relationship with the land.

Built using bioconstruction and traditional natural building techniques, the structure will be formed from materials sourced directly from the site—clay, stone, sand, fallen trees repurposed through forest management, and fibrous stalks from the farm’s harvest cycle. Techniques such as adobe, cob, wattle and daub, and hempcrete are chosen for their thermal mass, breathability, and fire resistance, ensuring durability in a fire-prone environment while regulating temperature and humidity to create a naturally cool and grounding space.

The elliptical form will function as a resonant chamber, attuned to sound, movement, and breath. Visitors will experience Terra Corpus as a space for congregation, reflection, and ritual. Dedicated seating areas will encourage gathering, fostering moments of shared experience. Like a mouth vocalizing a note or a violin amplifying sound, this sculptural void will serve as a chamber for reverberation. The space will interact with wind and human voice, subtly shifting with each gathering and season. Whether through song, movement, or silence, visitors will become aware of their presence within the landscape, creating a deeply embodied interaction between body, sound, and land.

The construction process is a collaborative, labor-intensive act, mirroring the farm’s rhythms. Community members, especially women and urban visitors, will be invited to participate in bioconstruction workshops, engaging in hand-mixing adobe, shaping cob, and building with earth and stone. This hands-on approach fosters a direct connection to the land, transforming construction into a ritual of care rather than an industrial process.

More than a static object, Terra Corpus is an activated space—shaped by the energy of the land, the people, and natural cycles. Its circular design reflects regenerative rhythms, reinforcing themes of renewal, transformation, and care. The integration of fire-resistant materials, passive cooling, and site-responsive orientation ensures resilience and longevity.

Ultimately, Terra Corpus is both practical and poetic—a sculptural void that fosters connection, reflection, and participation in the land’s evolving story. It is an offering to the cycles of nature, an invitation for community, and a testament to healing through relationship.

Designed as a wedding gift, this oversize oversize chess set will live upstate on oversized chess board made by Yoko Ono. The teams are machine vs garden. Each piece is resin cast to contain corresponding pieces. The machine pieces are electrically illuminated.

A Sound Pavilion for Pollinators and People

Listening Hive is a sculptural earthen installation designed for the East New York Youth Farm, in partnership with Island Bee Project. The structure creates a safe and resonant space for youth and visitors to engage with honeybee activity through amplified sound. A curved, polished adobe wall with conical perforations transmits the acoustic vibrations of a Kenyan Top-Bar Hive without exposing listeners to the bees’ flight path (“bee line”). Drawing from natural building traditions and acoustic ecology, the project invites stillness, observation, and multispecies presence while modeling a regenerative approach to ecological education in public space