For his first installation using stone, Serra chose a hill that slopes down toward the lake. After completing the precise topographical measurements of the area, he designed a particular arrangement of eight blocks of Colombino stone. The first step was to painstakingly search for, in the quarries of Firenzuola, the stones that possessed the special natural characteristics he desired for the work. Next, he placed each piece so that it rises two meters out of the ground at the exact point where the terrain drops two meters. Thus, the top of each block corresponds to the base of the one above, and so on up the hill, creating a series of virtual planes.