Filters on Glasses and To Align: 3 Pillars, Cleary Gottlieb Office by LSM: 2019 Best of Year Winner for Art Installation
French conceptual artist Daniel Buren has put his signature stripes in subway stations, public plazas, and museums. His site-specific works use simple patterns and saturated colors to transform the experience of a space, like when he layered bright filters on the Fondation Louis Vuitton in 2016. “He is a master of using light and sympathetic to the surrounding architecture,” LSM partner Rick Bilski observes. After seeing an exhibition of Buren’s work, Bilski and art consultant Lisa Austin commissioned him for the offices of law firm Cleary Gottlieb.
Bilski, founding partner and Interior Design Hall of Fame member Debra Lehman Smith, and team, who had envisioned an art installation from the start of the 97,000-square-foot project, gave Buren a worthy canvas: a two-story lobby with skylights, mirrors, and Lasa marble flooring. He consulted photographs and plans to create the work from Paris, making freehand sketches and determining the precise layout.
Overhead, blue, orange, yellow, and red acrylic gel filters adhere to the windows, casting changing patterns throughout the day. Below, three columns get vinyl stripes on one side. “It makes the space feel fresh and dynamic,” Bilski adds. The 2,500-square-foot reception is the heart of the office and promotes an open, collaborative work environment.
Project Team: James McLeish; Terese Wilson; Donald Morphy; Evie Soileau.
> See more from the December/January 2020 issue of Interior Design
