JEWEL COURT DOME
By Marion Sampler
1973, Stained Glass
As envisioned and developed by Henry Segerstrom, South Coast Plaza is much more than a luxury shopping center. It’s a well-curated work of architecture and art in its own right. One of the earliest works that distinguishes it as such is the gorgeous Stained Glass Dome that illuminates Jewel Court.

Shortly after 1972, Victor Gruen Associates, an architectural firm selected by Henry Segerstrom and his family in 1968 to design the South Coast Plaza retail center, was asked to create an interior court, to be called Jewel Court, for the retail center.

Segerstrom envisioned a stained glass for the ceiling of the interior court area, part of an addition that would evolve to become the heart of the shopping center. Created by Marion Sampler, an artist who was head of graphic design for South Coast Plaza architect Victor Gruen and Associates, the dome was assembled out of 7,200 pieces of colorful stained glass, and made its debut in 1973.

JEWEL COURT DOME PHOTO GALLERY