Presenting the latest fabulous floor by Artist Harri Aalto!
A fine artist, Harri is the creative spirit behind the Creative Edge Mastershop, a world-class maker of mixed media masterpieces. From the Astronaut Memorial in Florida to some of the world's most fabulous floors, his company has made a major impression with the kind of art you see on these pages produced by space-age waterjet technology. (FABULOUS FLOORS readers may recall Harri's "Floors to Take Your Breath Away," Spring 05, and "Living and Working On The Creative Edge," Summer 05.)
This particular challenge began with a call from a Midwest designer on behalf of a homeowner. The designer had seen some of Harri's Creative Edge work on the Internet and was immediately drawn to the style. Based on the pencil sketches submitted (signed by Harri at left), the homeowner asked him to proceed.
As with most sophisticated interior decors, especially those beginning with a floor such as this, the colors were first selected. (They would later be the master palette from which the home's remaining decor would be inspired.)
Harri's nearly 8,000, all-stone piece masterpiece features black, honed granite, red onyx, Jerusalem gold and beige marble, a field largely of gold travertine, semiprecious green lapis, Quetzal Persian red and a host of other premium decor stones. (The central medallion alone features some 1,200 precision-cut stone pieces.)
The design was sub-assembled into easy-to-install 12xl2-inch pieces, or larger. Each piece was numbered, and the installer received a by-the-numbers spec sheet showing the exact order in which the floor pieces were to be laid down.
Excluding the stone field (the main part of the floor), Harri estimates the floor to cost $130,000 minus installation. From the first call to first walk-on took six months.
Harri is quite proud of this design because it can be adapted from a 5-foot space to sizes such as the upcoming Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, which plans to blow up this design (in different colors appropriate to its own decor) to 24 feet.
Harri Aalto
Creative Edge Mastershop Artist and Designer
“I pretty much had a free hand with this,” says artist and creator Harri Aalto, pointing out unusual design features drawn from traditional French and Italian designs and upon which he elaborated. The design breaks up the spaces (dining room, foreground, master foyer, center, and living room in the background). “Still, you can walk through the medallions at the doorways, and the border doesn’t break off the flow. The accents medallions help the design to flow room to room,” he said.
THE DESIGN PROCESS... SKETCHES TO COLORED LAYOUTS
Copyright © 2010 Harri Aalto/CEC. All rights reserved.
Designs and design names, trademark and trade dress are the property of Harri Aalto/CEC.
Duplication or revision without the written consent of Harri Aalto are prohibited.
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