Students Bring Faculty-Led Pavilion to Life at Bernheim Forest

Bernheim Forest Pavilion

In late May, five School of Architecture students traveled to Bernheim Forest and Arboretum in Clermont, Kentucky, where they joined School of Architecture faculty member Ekin Erar to construct 10⁶ (Ten to the Power of Six), an immersive mirrored pavilion that transforms visitors and the surrounding landscape into an infinite series of reflections.

Constructed over a four-day period between May 28 and June 6, the project offered students a rare opportunity to participate in the realization of a full-scale architectural installation, engaging directly with fabrication, construction and on-site problem-solving.

Participating students were Alexander Barney ’26, Clark Dong ’27, Grace Hong ’26, Gia Lettieri ’27 and Nicole Trubsky ’27, alongside Riley Wines ’26, a student collaborator from Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning.

The pavilion was selected through a competitive open-call process organized by Bernheim Forest and Arboretum’s L+A+N+D (Landscape + Art + Nature + Design) initiative, which commissions immersive outdoor installations exploring the relationship between people, nature and the built environment. More than 160 proposals were submitted for consideration, with 10⁶ selected as one of only two projects chosen for construction.