The First Thing You Notice: Art, Furniture, and the Objects That Define Optima’s Lobbies

May 18, 2026

Walk into most apartment buildings and your eyes drift toward the elevator. Walk into an Optima community and they land on something specific and stay there.

Optima Signature: Kiwi

In the plaza outside Optima Signature stands Kiwi: a 15-foot, bright yellow steel sculpture by David Hovey Sr., FAIA. The piece began as freehand drawings, layered into a tall stacked form, reminiscent of an animal but ultimately abstract. The yellow pops against the building’s red podium, giving it an identity visible from blocks away. Walking into Optima Signature means being greeted by a piece of original art before you’ve even reached the door.

Large orange geometric sculpture in front of reflective modern glass buildings, viewed from below.

Optima Lakeview: The Cloverleaf Sofa

At the base of Optima Lakeview’s skylit atrium sits the Cloverleaf Sofa, designed by Verner Panton in 1969–1970 for his Visiona 2 exhibition. Four connected circular seats in a snake-like configuration, a piece of design history, a work of sculpture, and an extraordinarily welcoming place to sit down. Walking into Optima Lakeview means arriving somewhere with a place to stop and stay, not just a corridor to move through.

Optima Lakeview® Apartments in Chicago, IL Modern lobby with blue modular seating, red couches, indoor plants, and multi-level balconies.

Optima Verdana: Curves and Voids

At Optima Verdana in downtown Wilmette, the southeast plaza holds Curves and Voids, an eight-foot David Hovey Sr., FAIA sculpture. Sweeping steel curves interrupted by laser-cut voids that catch the North Shore light differently in every season. Inside, an Eames Lounge Chair anchors the library lounge. Walking into Optima Verdana means encountering something that changes with the time of day, a building that rewards a second look.

Red abstract metal sculpture of a human figure stands on a brick sidewalk near a modern building with glass windows.

Optima Kierland: Modular Color

At Optima Kierland in Scottsdale, the arrival experience is shaped by color. In the lounges, modular SOFTLINE PLANET sofas in saturated tones invite residents to convene or retreat, while the Barcelona Chair anchors residents’ clubs across all five towers. Walking into Optima Kierland means stepping into a space that adapts to how you want to be in it, together or alone.

Modern lounge with blue and yellow seating, circular light fixtures, and colorful wall art.

Optima Sonoran Village: A Sculpture Garden

At Optima Sonoran Village, the sculpture garden holds five original David Hovey Sr., FAIA works in natural Cor-Ten steel, Silver Fern, Duo, Triangles, Intersecting Arches, and Curves and Voids, are distributed through the courtyards, so art is encountered on the way to the pool. Walking into Optima Sonoran Village means living alongside art every day, not visiting it on a schedule.

A lush vertical garden on a building’s facade, seen through greenery and a shaded patio area.

Optima McDowell Mountain

At Optima McDowell Mountain in North Scottsdale, glass-enclosed 15-foot ground-floor levels make the lobbies feel transparent to the desert beyond, with the McDowell range framed through the glass and the central courtyard close at hand. Walking into Optima McDowell Mountain means arriving at a place where the desert is part of the room.

Modern kitchen with large island, two wall-mounted TVs, and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a garden.

Why It Works

The Barcelona Chair by Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich appears at every Optima community. So does the Eames Lounge Chair. On the walls, Calder, Picasso, Miró, and Klee. None of it is there for prestige alone, it’s there because residents, walking home on a grey November afternoon or a bright Scottsdale morning, deserve to pass through a space that has been thought about.

Explore our communities and experience the arrival for yourself.