Crop Top: Reframing Space Through Partial Views

Doğukan Güngör
Oct 12, 2025
2 min read

Designed by Kelly Bair and Kristy Balliet, Crop Top consists of a series of partial rooms arranged in a circular layout, inviting visitors to continually see one another, and the surrounding square, from new perspectives.

The installation features a circular roof supported by vertical surfaces that vary in width, shifting between walls and columns. Through this play of proportion and framing, the project spatializes the act of “cropping,” transforming it into a physical and perceptual experience that encourages looking around, through, and above.

Material Economy and Spatial Framing

Crop Top reinterprets the notion of framing both visually and structurally. Instead of traditional lumber, the project employs sheet materials and offcuts, minimizing material use while maximizing spatial effect. This partial framing system challenges conventional construction logic, merging visual framing with the literal framework of architecture.

Fabricated using robotic precision cutting, the pavilion can be assembled and disassembled without fasteners or adhesives. Its flat-pack design ensures efficient transport and easy reassembly, aligning with the project’s sustainable and circular design ethos.

The Beauty of the Incomplete

With its partially clad roof, Crop Top playfully references its namesake garment—the cropped top—which uses subtraction to draw attention to what’s missing. Similarly, the pavilion invites awareness of absence: open voids frame the sky and the urban context, turning incompleteness into an architectural feature.

A Light Touch in Public Space

Installed in Plaza Cofradía del Vino Rioja in Logroño, Spain, Crop Top was part of the Concéntrico International Design Festival. Sponsored by MAS Context and supported by the University of Illinois at Chicago, the project combines architectural experimentation with playful urban engagement.