The Vermont
Heart of Compassion

Located at the prominent intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles’ historic Koreatown,
The Vermont is a mixed-use development featuring retail space and two luxury residential towers. The 23- and 29-story towers comprise 464 residential units.

Los Angeles Opens Its Heart of Compassion visually connects the two towers. Artist and CGS principal
Cliff Garten designed the large-scale public art installation, commissioned by the JH Snyder Company.

The suspended installation spans the parking structure between the towers, covering portions of floors two through six. It features a 75-foot-long by 45-foot-tall undulating metallic screen. A 20-foot-tall, three-dimensional sculpture stands in front of the screen. The sculpture comprises 100 lotus-inspired forms fabricated from laser-cut aluminum.

Intense white light illuminates the lotus sculpture. Behind it, the screen moves through a display of rich, changing colors.
The sweeping colors captured by the curved screen deepen in response to natural daylight. This interaction creates an
evolving visual experience throughout the day. A corresponding line drawing reinforces the connection between the sculptural form, light, and architectural setting.

The lotus blossom is a recurring motif in Korean art. Garten used it to honor the cultural history of the surrounding
Koreatown neighborhood. He extended the motif throughout the development with a continuous design for the architectural glass handrail system. The handrails line the public staircase from the plaza to the second-floor balcony overlooking Wilshire Boulevard.

GGI translated the artist’s original artwork onto the glass using ALICE^® direct-to-glass printing. Each custom-fabricated glass panel contains a unique portion
of the larger design. GGI also laminated the panels to an overall thickness of 25 mm (1 inch), creating a durable
structural glass handrail system.