An innovative architectural installation called "Trace of Land" has been unveiled in the Italian Dolomites, creating a striking dialogue between human labor, landscape, and artistic expression. Designed by ELSE architecture studio and selected as part of SMACH 2025, the international open-air art biennale, the installation reimagines the familiar sight of hay bales across the alpine terrain of Val Badia.
The 100-square-meter installation, completed in 2025 in Rocca Pietore, Italy, presents a poetic vision of a large, round hay bale traversing the slopes of Armentara. The concept materializes as a meandering canopy that follows the natural contours of the terrain, creating a continuous path of unfurled hay bales across the undulating landscape. Lead architects Zhifei Xu and Zimo Zhang, working with construction team member Qiannan Ruan, have transformed this agricultural material into a sculptural intervention that invites reflection on labor, landscape, and renewal.
From a distance, the straw path resonates with the mountain trails characteristic of the Dolomites, while its rising and falling geometry deliberately echoes the ridgelines of the surrounding peaks. The installation removes hay bales from their functional agricultural context, transforming them into a material expression of the relationship between human effort, tools, and nature. This transformation aligns with SMACH 2025's theme of "la cu," the Ladin word for whetstone—a tool that sharpens harvesting blades—embodying the reciprocal relationship between human labor and the land.
The architects note that hay bales, often perceived as picturesque remnants of rural life, are actually products of highly industrialized processes, bundled, transported, and stored with mechanical precision. In "Trace of Land," these compressed forms are freed from their utilitarian purpose and unfurled to trace the natural contours of the meadow. The undulating structure creates varying experiences for visitors—at times lying directly on the ground, at other moments rising to create shaded passages beneath.
The construction methodology emphasizes minimalism and adaptability to the sensitive alpine environment. Vertical steel rebars are driven into the ground and connected with horizontal steel rods to form a lightweight framework. A surface of wire mesh supports the unfurled hay, which is secured in place using traditional grass ropes. This simple yet effective system ensures minimal environmental impact while allowing the canopy to adjust to different terrains and lengths, integrating seamlessly into the existing pasture landscape.
Visitors are encouraged to walk along and beneath the canopy, moving with the natural contours of the pasture to gather, rest, and engage with the installation. Rectangular hay bales provide seating areas throughout the structure, reinforcing the dialogue between functional purpose and artistic abstraction. The tactile quality of the hay—with its layered and porous fibers—filters light through the canopy, creating an atmosphere that feels simultaneously rough and delicate.
The installation engages in meaningful dialogue with the traditional "tablà," the wooden barns typical of the Ladin valleys, creating connections between contemporary artistic expression and regional architectural heritage. Photography by Gustav Willeit, ELSE, and Elisa Cappellari captures how the installation transforms from poetic vision into landscape architecture, demonstrating its successful integration into the dramatic alpine setting.
As a temporary installation, "Trace of Land" acknowledges the cyclical nature of agricultural materials and environmental processes. Over time, as the hay naturally decays and weathers, it will return to the earth, completing a full cycle of use and renewal that reflects the broader themes of sustainability and harmony with natural systems that define the SMACH biennale's mission.
