Vertical Panorama Pavilion: Showing Multicolored Glass Reflections

Vertical Panorama Pavilion is an art installation created specifically for The Donum Estate, a major producer of Pinot Noir (a famous wine in California). This kaleidoscopic pavilion builds in a small hill valley among the vast vineyards of the California area.

(Vertical Panorama Pavilion by Olafur Eliasson and Sebastian Behmann)

The Vertical Panorama Pavilion was designed by Studio Other Spaces, the office for architecture and art founded by artist Olafur Eliasson and architect Sebastian Behmann. When Eliasson first visited Donum Estate in 2019, the idea came up to create a pavilion that was able to deepen the meaning of the vineyard. The design aims at creating a holistic space that refers to the beauty of wine, art, design, and architecture.

(Vertical Panorama Pavilion clad in 832 panes of glass)

Through these principles, Studio Other Spaces opened the pavilion horizontally to reach views of San Pablo Bay and The Donum Estate's 200-acre vineyard. Because it is located in an open space, Studio Other Spaces studies the planting calendar to find out information and research images from meteorology per year. This research includes the acquisition of solar radiation, wind intensity, temperature, and humidity resulting from the constantly changing seasons. The result is a cone-shaped pavilion with an architectural center on the oculus leading north.

(Landscape view)

(The opening above the roof frames the sky)

The structure uses curved hollow iron with circular openings on top that offer a view of the open sky. While the roof design with 24 color variations of laminated glass panels with a total of 832 translucent glass, this glass produces colorful shadows that echo the color of the environment in the Sonoma Valley. Below is a gathering area with seats separated by a partition from the bricks, equipped with pillows that add more comfort. From here, visitors can play alongside the stunning color shadows of the glass panels.

 (Vertical Panorama Pavilion has a concentric structure made of iron)

(Bricks are used to reflect the surrounding environment)

"The pavilion maps the surrounding ephemera — the soil, vegetation, wind, sun, atmosphere, and rain — incorporating these into a colorful canopy, reflecting the unique signatures of the grapes," Eliasson and Behmann said.

(The seating area is decorated by color shadows produced from the glass panels)

The Vertical Panorama Pavilion is a synergy of art and architecture that embodies the vision of Studio Other Spaces in designing public spaces through interdisciplinary and experimental methodologies. It is a kaleidoscopic pavilion dedicated to enjoying wine that allows sensory encounters with the surrounding environment.

(This is the Vertical Panorama Pavilion for The Donum Estate)