10/14/2026
Odontoid by Justin Tyler Tate
Constructed from three concentric rings of deadfall spruce logs surrounding an interior garden, Odontoid is both a sculpture and a living ecological system. The work asks us to reconsider a basic assumption about architecture: What would it mean to build structures not primarily for humans, but for the many species with which we share the landscape?
The thick walls create a protected environment where native plants, fungi, insects, birds, and other species can take hold and thrive. The spruce logs are inoculated with mycelium, while raised planting beds support a dense concentration of native species. Rather than simply mimicking natural biodiversity, Odontoid creates a reservoir for it, providing a protected place from which native species can spread into the surrounding landscape and help resist invasive species.
The structure also changes the movement of water through the site. Its mass captures and insulates winter snow, allowing it to remain longer and release moisture more gradually as conditions warm. Plants provide food for beetles, butterflies, caterpillars, flies, hummingbirds, moths, and other wildlife, creating ecological relationships that extend well beyond the sculpture itself.
Odontoid is designed to evolve. Mycelium will colonize the wood, mosses and lichens will establish themselves in its moist cavities, plants will fill the interior, and animals and insects will find food and shelter within its structure. Humans can enter and experience the work, but they are not its only inhabitants or even necessarily its primary ones.
Through this evolving structure, Odontoid invites us to imagine a less human-centered approach to architecture and land stewardship. What might we build if the needs of plants, fungi, insects, birds, and other species were considered alongside our own? Though the sculpture occupies a relatively small footprint, its influence is intended to spread outward, making the surrounding ecosystem part of the work itself.
