The Vision Behind the Art
The artistic and cultural movement of Italy in the early 20th century is the driving force behind the illuminated glass mosaic entry to the Lago restaurant situated inside the Bellagio Las Vegas. This movement, referred to as “Futurism”, began in Milan in 1909 by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. It emphasized speed, technology, industry, and movement. Art during this time was often bright, took on aspects of Cubism, and frequently depicted urban areas.
The 1,500-square-foot mosaic entrance to the Lago represents Italian Futurism in an original way. The mosaic is bright both in color and in light. At first glance it looks like nothing more than an abstract piece of art but there’s more to it than what meets the eye. The mosaic is in fact a map of downtown Milan. The representation of an urban area, its division into separate “cubes”, and the bright, colors with gradient saturations, all reflect the art in Italy in the early 1900’s.
Created by the best
The design was created by Studio Munge, a multidisciplinary firm specializing in tactile, layered and immersive interiors. Inspired by the artwork of Paul Klee, the design features backlit, colored glass panels with an overlay of CNC cut white powder-coated aluminum. These numerous parts were supplied by Eventscape, a custom architectural fabricator who engineered, fabricated and installed the custom backlit glass and metal façade wall.
How it was made
One of the biggest challenges faced by Eventscape’s designers was the attachment method for the glass panels. Most of the are rectangular, but the glass pieces are random shapes that nest together, and the streets are irregular linear frames.
Eventscape precisely drilled the mounting holes into the aluminum frames and glass panels so that they would align with holes in the light panels that were provided by Evo-Lite. Aluminum standoffs hold all the pieces of the 95 foot long x 13 foot high entrance façade to the support wall. 5300K white light LED light enhances the bright colors of the design and draws attention to the unique entrance.
