"Cloud Terrace takes the form of a hand‐sculpted wire mesh cloud suspended over the terrace and embellished with 10,000 genuine SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS water‐drop crystals mirrored in a reflecting pool. The Arbor Terrace is one of the most modified spaces in the Dumbarton Oaks Gardens. Originally designed by Beatrix Farrand in the early 1930s as a simple rectangular herb garden bordered on the west by a wisteria‐covered arbor and on the east and north by a hedge of Kieffer pears, it was refashioned by Farrand’s former associate Ruth Havey in the 1950s as a pot garden centered on a Rococo‐style parterre with low, Doria stone parapet walls. The space can be hot and bright; cao | perrot’s installation is a response to these conditions, extending the shade of the arbor across the terrace and animating the space inside the parterre with an oval pool surrounded by pebbles.
The project was supported by SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS, who provided the crystals used for the installation. It was organized by John Beardsley, Director of Garden and Landscape Studies at Dumbarton Oaks, and Gail Griffin, Director of Gardens."
Dumbarton Oaks Press Release (March 28, 2012)
PLACE: Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC
CLIENT: Dumbarton Oaks Gardens and Museum
TEAM: cao | perrot studio with J.P. Paull (Bodega Architecture)
PROGRAM: temporary installation
STATUS: completed April 5th, 2012
MATERIALS: wire mesh, steel posts, cut crystals SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS, reflecting pond, plants
About SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS
SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS is the premium brand for the finest crystal elements manufactured by Swarovski.
The designers’ choice since the founding of the company in 1895, SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS provides creative
talents from the fashion, jewelry, accessories, interior design and lighting industries with the latest on‐trend
innovations. Available in a myriad of colors, effects, shapes and sizes, SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS offer designers
a fabulous palette of inspiration. Born out of passion for detail and high‐precision cutting, they impart refined
glamour to everything they embellish.
These precious ingredients can be recognized through the “MADE WITH SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS” label,
which serves as a certificate of authenticity. It marks products that are made with genuine SWAROVSKI
ELEMENTS.
Swarovski, a family company for more than a hundred years with values rooted in integrity, respect and
excellence, is noted as much for its ethics in business as for its contemporary artistry and innovative flair.
www.swarovski‐elements.com
About the Dumbarton Oaks Gardens and Museum
The 10‐acre Dumbarton Oaks Gardens were designed by renowned landscape architect Beatrix Jones Farrand
during the 1920's and feature ornamental stonework, formal rose garden, reflecting pools, and a wide array
of unique and rare plants and flowers.
Recently reinstalled in renovated galleries, the Dumbarton Oaks Museum features extraordinary examples of
Byzantine and Pre‐Columbian art in its permanent exhibition galleries. European masterpieces are exhibited
in the historic Music Room, including Western Medieval and Renaissance sculpture, furniture and tapestry.
The remarkable Pre‐Columbian pavilion, designed by Philip Johnson and completed in 1963, houses the Pre‐Columbian Collection.
Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, in Washington, DC, is an institute of Harvard University
dedicated to supporting scholarship internationally in Byzantine, Garden and Landscape, and Pre‐Columbian
studies through fellowships, meetings, exhibitions, and publications. Located in Georgetown, Dumbarton
Oaks welcomes the public to visit its Gardens and Museum.
www.doaks.org
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