Art · Design · Engineering · Fabrication

We build the things other shops turn down.

Public art, architectural metal, furniture and hardware, designed, engineered and fabricated in house. Shop in Northern Nevada, installs nationwide.

Start a project See the work

What we make

Start with what you need built.

Freak Beacon's sphere on its steel tower, black and white

Public Art Large-scale sculpture and installations

Black steel pergola slats overhead on a Tribeca rooftop

Architectural Metal Gates, pergolas, stairs, structure

Sculptural plywood desk against a red steel wall

Furniture Desks, benches, shelving, one-off pieces

Signage CNC-cut and fabricated

Product + Hardware Concept, DFM, prototype

3D + Engineering Rhino, Grasshopper, structural detailing

Film, TV + Performance Props, aerial rigs, kinetic pieces

AI Systems Self-hosted agents and servers

jonoisart Paintings, poetry, short films

Selected projects

Built at full scale.

Public art · Detroit · 2016

Freak Beacon

Seventy-five feet of steel and 9,000 pounds, built at Lincoln Street Art Park with Knight Foundation support. Our part: the Buckminster Fuller geodesic sphere mounted 40 feet up.

Role: Geodesic sphere fabrication
Client: Green Living Science, Make Art Work
Scale: 75 ft · 9,000 lb
Press: Knight Foundation, Galvanizers Association

Freak Beacon · shop to sky

Crew working on the raw steel sphere frame inside the shop — 01Crew working the raw steel frame in the shop.

Galvanized hexagon and pentagon panels with mesh infill strapped to a flatbed trailer — 02Galvanized panels strapped down for transport.

Galvanized sphere on its lattice mast with an orange lift arm alongside — 03Sphere on the mast, lift alongside.

Two aerialists performing on ropes above the finished sphere — 04Aerialists performing on the finished piece.

Under the black steel pergola: slatted roof, copper wall lights and the outdoor kitchen

Architectural metal · Tribeca, New York

Tribeca rooftop

Black steel pergola with an integrated outdoor kitchen, curved double gates linking the dining terrace to a planted roof lawn, and a round steel water feature.

Scope: Pergola, kitchen structure, gates, steel water feature

Tribeca · shop floor to roof

One uncoated steel gate leaf with a curved top rail, standing in the shop — 01One gate leaf on the bench: welded frame, tight lower pickets, formed curved top rail, before coating.

Finished black steel double gates with a curved top, between planters, lawn beyond — 02Installed between integrated planters, symmetrical curved top profile.

Black steel gate latch with ivy growing through the frame — 03Latch detail, ivy growing through the frame.

Round black steel water feature on a stone-paved terrace — 04Steel water feature on the terrace.

Sculptural plywood desk with splayed legs against a red steel wall

Two hardwood benches, one slatted, one with sliding-door shoe storage beneath

Live-edge shelf on a steel cantilever bracket, seen from below

Bench corner joinery with a contrasting wood inlay

The sculptural plywood desk from the side, long shadows across the floor

Furniture · Design + fabrication

Furniture, built to fit

Desks, benches and shelving, designed and built in the shop. Hardwood, plywood and live-edge slabs, with joinery and steel hardware made for each piece.

Pieces: Sculptural plywood desk, benches with shoe storage, live-edge shelves
Materials: Hardwood, plywood, live-edge slabs, milled steel

Live-edge cantilever shelves · sketch to install

Sketches, milled steel compression brackets, fabrication and install, in 85 seconds. Design, fabrication and film by Jono Isbell.

Who builds it

Designed, engineered and built by the same hands.

Hollow Arch is the practice of Jono Isbell. SCI-Arc trained, 20 years in Rhino and Grasshopper, and five years leading high-end architectural metalwork across Manhattan and Brooklyn at 618 Design, including as COO. Two published patent applications. OSHA 40-hour certified, FAA-licensed drone pilot.

Signed Polaroid portrait in front of Freak Beacon at Lincoln Street Art Park — Lincoln Street Art Park, Detroit

Press and partners

NPR
NBC News
New York Post
CBS New York
Time Out New York
Knight Foundation
Van Alen Institute
Archinect

How we work

01We start with the actual problem, not just the stated request.
02Estimates come with their assumptions written down.
03You get updates before you have to ask. If it won't work, we say so and why.

Services

Hire us for one piece or the whole build.

Custom fabrication

Digital file to finished object. CNC, waterjet, plasma, laser, welding and woodwork, for complex geometry, mixed materials and unusual scale.

Architectural engineering

Structural design and detailing for custom builds, installations and unconventional architecture. Design intent, made buildable.

Public art + performance

Large-scale sculpture, aerial rigs, robotic armatures and remote-actuated mechanisms. Safety first, by default.

Product design + manufacturing

Concept to prototype to production. Industrial design, DFM and vendor coordination, domestic and overseas.

3D modeling + drafting

Rhino, Grasshopper, Fusion 360, SolidWorks and Blender. Models for fabrication, visualization or documentation.

AI systems

Custom agent setups, home and office servers running local models, and cloud or VPS deployments.

Start a project

Bring us the hard one.

Send drawings, sketches, photos or a rough idea. Same-day replies on weekdays.

Send a brief jono@hollowarch.com 775-675-5750