Built on a seasonal flood plain, under the canopy of a large sycamore grove, Bent Blind is designed as a multi-generational bird blind and resting station along an accessible, compressed-earth trail overlooking the Pomperaug river and protected wildlife preserve.
Acting as both a marker and a gateway at a point where the trail turns away from the river, the project provides both sheltered seating and framed views across the river.
A collection of 8" x 8" cruciform columns made of American cypress are carefully placed and modulated to form seating, frame views, define the pathway, and mark the trail.
An accumulation of columnar landscape components partially protected by a space-frame canopy clad in engineered sailcloth, Bent Blind is an intentional "ruination" of a series of modernist architectural tropes (rusticated Miesian columns rendered in rough-cut cypress, discontinuous and fragmentary space frames, and indeterminate interiority). Collectively, these components act as a built analog, in miniature, for the large sycamore grove in which they are arranged, while their layered vertical striation creates a moiré interference pattern as visual camouflage for bird watching.
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