Spillway Wall
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
Scott Burton is best known for his public artworks that transform stone and other heavy materials into furniture-like sculptures that purposefully blur the line between art and utility. Burton balanced a strong design sensibility, an appreciation of organic materials, and a love for sculptural form and architectural mass to create his artworks that both evoke the natural landscape and respond to the geometries of the surrounding buildings.
His artwork Spillway Wall extends 60 feet across the exterior courtyard of the Bonneville Power Building in Portland, Oregon. Ten marble posts divide the wall into nine sections of a darker stone and flowing water. These divisions echo the windows that punctuate the wall behind the artwork. The cascading water symbolizes Bonneville's function: electric power generated by water.
