This project is a L/Arch project commissioned through the Landscape division of Mayer|Reed. Each of these stones was fashioned out of rough materials into oval-shaped “pebbles” and placed as feature stones into the covered entrance portico area of the new Hyatt Regency Hotel located next to the Convention Center near Portland’s Lloyd District.
Cutting the form of a gargantuan pebble shape is not an easy thing to do, especially from rough boulders. The initial forms were cut upside down in order to create a flat base for the stones to sit properly at the site. Once that plane was established, the rough oval-shaped circumference was faceted, and then the 3d curvature was cut to create the smooth natural form needed. Once the form was established, the rounding and surface finishing was carried out with hand-held grinders, a torch and/or bush-hammering. It was a brutal, time-consuming challenge, but a beautifully designed project that I’m very happy to have been commissioned to perform.
