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Tradition,
beauty, naturalness
Parquet-flooring enjoys an old tradition in the furnishing of homes
and public premises. Evidence of wood flooring can be traced back
to the tenth century B.C. In the Middle Ages floors made with simple
boards were popular throughout the Nordic countries. In the
Renaissance refined decorative inlays with precious woods in
quadrature flourished, while the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries saw the triumph of the art of mosaic compositions.
Geometrically arranged parquet-flooring became part of furnishing and
décor styles throughout the whole of the nineteenth century.
Early this century, the great modern architectural masters
re-discovered the natural and organic aspect of wood: one example will
be sufficient, Alvar Aalto, whose projects and designs were closely
bound to this material. Wooden floors in dwellings in eastern
countries prevail, a custom dictated by a culture of the home which
encourages beauty, emphasis of colour, harmonious mixing and matching
of natural materials.
From an aesthetic point of view, the use of
wood for floors is distinguished by its considerable decorative
value. The patterns of laying are countless and whatever form they
take are always highly effective: from the simplest, formed by
matching up strips laid in "aligned" and "offset" layouts as well as
in the classic "herring-bone" already known to the Romans, to the
more complex arrangements created with mosaic geometric patterns and
the mixing and matching of different woods of differing colours.
The
new style of living has re-discovered the attractiveness and comfort
of wooden flooring in its search for a naturalness which seemed to
have been lost in the widespread use of artificial and technological
materials. Recent awareness in determining the best conditions for
living and dwelling space has finally dictated that domestic and work
environments as well as those for spare-time activities, should be as
protected as possible from the pollution of town areas.
This has led
to parquet-flooring being found more and more in dwellings as well as
in public premises: schools, gymnasiums and sports centres, churches,
institutional places and reception areas. The growing use of wood for
furnishing purposes is not at odds, however, with the ecological
awareness of today: the industries which transform this precious
material obtain their supplies from controlled plantations where
trees are cut down in proportion to those that are growing. |
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