Textures in Sky + Onyx: Letting Nature Be Natural
Maybe it’s time for more late night office sessions, the multitude of windows leads to endless inspiration! Playing with our backlit onyx samples late in the day, a quick glimpse out the window at the dramatic clouds reminds us why we love working with natural stone materials.
Evening view from the GPI Design Westlake office
Much like this sunset, the colors and patterning in natural stone are entirely organic and specific to a certain point in time. While the composition of the sunset is fleeting, the patterns formed in an onyx panel are stamped for eternity; a tangible piece of nature turned into a building material. Both the sunset and the onyx are gorgeous because of the components that constitute their forms and patterns, but lighting brings a whole new layer of warmth and dimension to their perception.
12″ x 20″ sample of backlit Iranian Blue Onyx
Admittedly, the thought of placing color gel filters over the windows to tint the sky to our exact liking DID cross our minds. (And what if that cloud moved left just a little bit? Ooh, I would love to see more gold just above the horizon.) We constantly remind ourselves to run with the randomness of nature. Sometimes you just can’t design beauty.