hay bales unroll into trace of land installation across alpine terrain in italy
ELSE Design reinterprets the hay bale as a sculptural installation
Trace of Land by ELSE Design reinterprets the hay bale as a spatial installation that unfolds across the pastures of Val Badia in the Italian Dolomites. Presented as part of SMACH 2025, the international open-air art biennale, the project transforms an agricultural object into a canopy-like structure that follows the terrain, offering places for shade, rest, and gathering.
The land art installation takes the form of a continuous path of unfurled hay bales that move with the contours of the alpine landscape. Removed from its functional role in farming, the hay bale becomes both sculptural and architectural, drawing attention to the relationship between human labor, tools, and the land.
all images by Gustav Willeit
Trace of Land becomes a site for reflection on land and labor
Typically seen as iconic remnants of agrarian life, hay bales are in fact products of industrialized processes, bundled, stored, and transported by machinery. In Trace of Land, this industrial form is loosened and reshaped, creating a structure that alternates between lying on the ground and lifting lightly to form shaded passages. The result is a temporary canopy that mediates between agricultural efficiency and natural setting.
The installation by ELSE Design Studio aligns with SMACH’s 2025 theme, la cu, the Ladin word for whetstone, a tool used to sharpen harvesting blades, by highlighting the reciprocity between human work and landscape. Visitors are invited to walk along and beneath the structure, using rectangular bales arranged as seating to pause and reflect. As time passes, the hay will naturally decompose, returning to the soil and completing a cycle of use and renewal, reinforcing the installation’s dialogue between cultivation, transformation, and the environment.
Trace of Land unfolds across the alpine pastures of Val Badia
ELSE Design reinterprets the hay bale as a sculptural installation
unfurled hay bales create a meandering canopy through the landscape
the structure follows the natural contours of the alpine terrain
the installation offers shaded spaces for gathering and reflection
an agricultural object is transformed into a temporary pavilion
rectangular bales are arranged as seating within the installation
hay bales, typically industrially produced, are loosened and reshaped
hay bales are reimagined as both architectural and sculptural elements
sections rise lightly to create passages beneath the canopy
the temporary canopy becomes a site for reflection on land and labor
project info:
name: Trace of Land
architect: ELSE Design | @design_by_else
lead designers: Zhifei Xu, Zimo Zhang
location: Val Badia, Dolomite Mountains, Italy
photographer: Gustav Willeit | @sangu
designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.
edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom
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