CROP TOP, 2025Crop Top is a series of partial rooms that encourage visitors to circulate in the round to continually crop their views of each other and the surrounding square. Composed of a circular roof and a set of vertical surfaces that range in widths from walls to columns, the project spatializes the literal technique of cropping as an act of framing views both around and above, between and through. Crop tops serve to both ration and highlight material. Conflating notions of visual framing with construction framing, it is fabricated using a partial framing system, where sheets (and their offcuts), rather than dimensional lumber, minimize material use for maximum effect. Designed for flat pack transport and ease of assembly/disassembly, Crop Top is fabricated using the precision of robotic cutting which allows for traditional (fastener and adhesive-free) detail connections. With its incomplete roof cladding, Crop Top is a nod to the trending (again) crop top shirt, a garment that uses subtraction to focus attention on the missing middle.
Designers: Kelly Bair & Kristy Balliet
Production Team: Alex Harrison
Location: Plaza Cofradía del Vino Rioja, Logroño, Spain
Photography: Josema Cutillas
Production: Gerardo Gorris
Logistical Support: Construcciones Calleja
Sponsored by MAS Context & Concentrico International Design Festival with additional support by University of Illinois at Chicago. Wood donated by Garnica.
