Broad Signals: Pond Theater

Pond Theater, created by Rotterdam-based design duo Studio Ossidiana, transforms the ICA’s Thinking Field water feature into a social and contemplative environment. The fiberglass-and-wood circular platform will float atop the pond basin, its boat-like forms creating convivial spaces for seating, play, and informal gathering.

Exploring the intersections of ecology, architecture, and human connection, the commission reimagines the boundary between interior and exterior, between museum and city. Through staged events, public programs, and spontaneous encounters, Pond Theater becomes a site of fluid engagement. With the water, the building, and with one another.

Pond Theater inaugurates Broad Signals, the ICA’s ongoing public art commissioning series for the exterior of the Markel Center.

About Studio Ossidiana:

Studio Ossidiana works across architecture, installation, and spatial practice, with a focus on the porous edges between built environments and living ecologies. Pond Theater marks their first major commission in the United States. Studio Ossidiana is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Their work has been exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale, Istanbul Design Biennale, Chicago Architecture Biennale, Rotterdam Architecture Biennale, and Shenzhen Architecture Biennale.

About Broad Signals:
Broad Signals is an ongoing public art commissioning series that invites internationally renowned artists to create original works for the exterior of the Markel Center, transforming the intersection of Broad and Belvidere Streets into a dynamic site for artistic production and community engagement. Spanning monumental installations and more intimate interventions, the program advances the ICA’s mission by activating its architecture and civic setting through diverse forms, including sculpture, light, sound, and mixed media, while fostering reflection for those moving through the VCU campus and surrounding neighborhood.