From Verona to Vegas: The Success of an International Design Collaboration

Some of the greatest rewards of our work come from collaborating with specialized consultant teams, as well as from being challenged to find solutions to new design problems.

A recently completed project, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, has proved to be rewarding on both fronts. Designed by David M. Schwartz Architects, the Smith Center's grand public spaces are finished, floors and walls, in hues of polished marble from Testi Fratelli, one of Italy's best known stone wholesalers. The Testi family founded the company in the 1920's, when ox-drawn carts were used to transport the marble blocks hewn from its two quarries in the Verona province. Today Testi Fratelli offers a wider and more modern variety of stone products and services, several of which were put to the test on the Smith Center project.

Donor recognition was a significant component of the comprehensive graphics program that the architects and the institution hired Two Twelve to design for this important new cultural facility in Las Vegas. As a tribute to the significant contributions of supporters, Two Twelve developed a number of recognition elements, including two major "Founders" walls of names carved into the Rosso Verona marble panels. With advanced manufacturing technologies, Testi Fratelli were able to machine-carve fifty-seven supporters names into the flat and curved panels at their Verona facility prior to shipping them to Las Vegas.

A particular challenge was ensuring that the profiles of all letters exactly matched our typographic criteria, and that these profiles could be maintained across the breadth and width of the two approximately 14 foot high by 8 foot high walls. We had to make sure the "V" cut was to a sufficient depth to achieve the graphic contrast of light and shadow that we intended and yet not too deep to create distortion to the letter forms. These critical factors were only achievable through the capabilities of the state-of-the-art diamond head cutting tool and the skill of its operators. Prior to production we engaged in an extensive coordination process with Testi as well as Superior Tile & Marble, the primary interior stone vendor, and Whiting Turner, the general contractor, through conference calls, multiple rounds of sample submissions and site meetings in Las Vegas, all of which allowed us to ultimately achieve our exact design intention.  During production, to keep an eye on the accuracy of the carving, and to ensure an on-time delivery, crews manned the carving machinery in continuous shifts around the clock.

Shipping these panels was a second challenge. Due to the exacting tolerances required for carving and to maintain the structural integrity of the stone --  letters could not be carved within 1/8" of a panel edge at the risk of chipping the stone during production or shipping --  the production team determined that leaving an additional safety border around the edge of each panel, which could be trimmed down after shipping, would greatly reduce the risk of damage to the panels before installation.  

Though we live in an age when so much can be done electronically, it became clear that the final inspection of the carving process should be done on-site, at Testi's manufacturing facility outside Verona in Italy. With full-size digital prints in-hand, we manually checked the letter sizes and proportions, spacing and leading, as well as the overall alignment of letters to panel edges. Visually we were able to check and confirm the quality and depth of the carving.

With on-site approval, Testi and Superior could begin to coordinate shipping. This started with Testi's team crating the panels for air transport and getting the multiple crates on their way from Verona to California, where Superior's team uncrated and trimmed each of the sixteen panels to prepare them for installation. Superior then re-packed and crated them once more, for transport to Las Vegas.

Once in Las Vegas the construction teams managed by Whiting Turner coordinated final installation of each piece in to it's designated spot. One last step remained, the proverbial "icing on the cake", which was the application of a white gold leaf inlay to each letter to achieve the final design intent that was conceived over one year ago in our studio. 

This has been an extraordinary and somewhat unique collaboration; with each team willing to challenge themselves and working seamlessly together to bring about the best possible result for the project. 

Opening night: March 1, 2012