I/Thee created the Puddle Pavilion casts a floating canopy from algae resin by allowing the material to take its own shape on the ground. Built above Mud Creek in Bondurant, Iowa, the installation by design collective I/Thee, led by Neal Lucas Hitch, uses algae-based bio resin to create a translucent canopy shaped by gravity, wind, and surface tension. Once cured, the resin sheet was lifted onto slim steel columns, forming a hovering surface that resembles a frozen splash or a river suspended in the air.

The pavilion demonstrates algae-based bio resin as a biodegradable and low-carbon alternative to plastics. It reflects I/Thee’s approach to Action Architecture, where making becomes performance and material behavior drives form. Positioned at the entrance to Eagle Park, the Puddle Pavilion functions as both a shaded resting place and an exploration of sustainable architectural experimentation.

Image Credit: Dug Rosse