Sarno Block, Caesars Palace Latticework

Jay Sarno, et al.
Sarno Block, Caesars Palace Latticework
c. 1966
Concrete
Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art Collection
Gift of Heidi Sarno Straus
2020.03.001

"In your opinion, do I look like any designer you ever met? I would rather hang up by my thumbs! So I don't look like a designer, but see that block outside there through the window, that design that covers the front of the building? That's the Sarno Block, I've had it patented and anybody wants to use it, they got to come to me! See this office? It's elliptical. An ellipse, in my opinion, is the friendliest shape. The new convention hall we're building will be my version of the Roman circus - elliptical. I dreamed up the idea for this whole place, and I designed or supervised everything.”

Jane Wilson, “A Double Roman Holiday” (Los Angeles Times, 1967)

“I’m Form and Function. Stack me up end to end, I make the letter “S”. Illuminate me from behind, I am architectural continuity. As a façade, my breezeway keeps unwanted heat out. My S curves have been gazed through by the best of them as well as the worst. From rags to riches and vice versa, I’ve seen it all. From lovemaking to lives ending. I hold secrets…”
Heidi Sarno Straus (Jay Sarno’s daughter), email to Alisha Kerlin, September 7, 2021