Case Study
The Jay
Soft Brutalist Shapes Dominate Design Inspiration
The lavishly crafted spaces making up The Jay Hotel are enveloped within a striking John Portman-designed Brutalist building. Heavy forms, geometric shapes, and the use of concrete and plaster abound, place Portman’s legacy front and center
With interiors by the local San Francisco studio of award-winning global design firm AvroKO, the renovation design embraces The Jay's brutalist exterior from noted architect John Portman and introduces the concept of warm brutalism.
Brief
Referencing the brutalist architecture of the building design, VISO worked with AvroKO to create lighting in the restaurant, reception and porte-cochère. In honoring the building's architectural history, the concept of warm brutalism blurs the lines between design modalities while providing subtle nods to the local artists and creators who served as inspiration.
Heavy forms, geometric shapes, and the use of concrete and plaster abound, place Portman’s legacy front and center.
Client Need
The hexagonal wooden pendants in the restaurant, reference hexagonal patterning on the building columns, each were finished by hand and mounted. In the building reception, the concept of translating brutalist shapes took form in ceiling mounted fabric shades. A total of 48 shades were added and mounted across the reception ceiling and finished in milky white linen.
Each shape was created using a brass frame, which can be seen through the linen when the lighting is on.
The shades created vary in height between 18”, 21” and 24” to create a sense of flow and movement in the installation.
Challenges
Transportation of the reception shades was challenging due to the scale of each piece, and storage through rain and intense humidity.
The storage of the pieces including stacking and ultimate placement which was over an extended period.
Viso was able to work with local factories to ensure the swift storage and fine tuning of lights to ensure an installation timing was managed and materials were protected.
