Client: Swire

Overview

EAST, Miami is a design hotel located within Brickell City Centre, offering a unique mix of customized guest services, cutting-edge technology, and innovative restaurants and bars. In October of 2015, as the property was nearing completion, I was commissioned to create two 6’ x 4’ 6” glass wall sculptures for the two respective elevator bays in the main lobby.

Goals

A big part of Clodagh's mission at East was to ensure that everywhere that guests walk and look, they see something beautiful. The appeal of these two lobby pieces was crucial, as they are visible from outside the hotel and the first thing that guests see walking through the front doors. With this in mind, the chosen material was silvered water glass which catches the light and emits an enticing shimmer, welcoming and guiding guests into the elevator vestibules. In keeping with Clodagh’s Feng Shui design, I opted for metallic palettes: one piece in gold/bronze and the other in silver/gun metal. Each mosaic consists of 1,452 lenticular, hand-cut glass glass blocks that are a single color when viewed from one side, but as the viewer moves across the piece, the color melds into the secondary tone. The same color transformation occurs from top to bottom, adding to the kinetic energy of the pieces.

Process

Once Indiewalls suggested my work for the project, I was brought into Clodagh's studio to meet with the product manager and was briefed on the overall hotel design. Based on what I learned, I created a presentation showing a number of designs and possibilities. Clodagh had a strong response to one design in particular, and I then created two small prototypes in two different color palettes. From here, the sizing was nailed down, and funding was secured. After eight weeks of production, the pieces were shipped from New York City to Miami where they stored until ready for installation.

Additional Information

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the mosaic design is that the mirrored sides of of the triangular blocks create a diamond pattern that moves along with the viewer’s focal point. This pattern doesn’t actually exist, but is merely the result of the blocks reflecting themselves. The pieces are aptly named, “Reflection of Diamond”.