CEMENT FLOOR TILEs - PART 4 - FAMOUS PLACES
by Fiona Flores Watson
If you've been to Seville, most likely you will know Plaza de España, the vast square in Parque Maria Luisa backed by a magnificent semi-circular brick building which was designed for the Expo 1929. The sweeping arched space between the canal with its bridges and the tiled alcoves, has 900m2 of red and white floor tiles made to order by Mosaicos Pino, for the massive restoration project in 2011.
Similarly in Ayamonte, the western-most town in Huelva province before you reach the Portuguese border, Plaza de la Laguna has striking ceramic tiled benches, with a floor of red and white ladrillo tiles (13x26cm). And further afield, in Osaka, Japan, the branch of Seville-based equestrian shop El Caballo has an appropriately Andalucian floor of hydraulic mosaic tiles.
Indeed Antonio is keen for his tiles to find a wider audience - while a large majority of his business caters to Spanish clientele, in both private houses and commercial premises, as well as public spaces, he has already provided flooring for some houses in Portugal and France, and is looking to export to the UK, where this type of geometric flooring is very much de moda (think upmarket suppliers such as Fired Earth).
Meanwhile, closer to home, he was recently contacted by someone whose parents' house had original Mosaico Pino floor tiles, from 90-odd years ago, and wanted to keep the floor, replacing those which were now in poor condition. Of the total, half were still intact. Antonio tells me that in many houses around the town, livestock would pass through from the street to the patio area - a considerable wear and tear for any floor surface. Yet the floors have lasted throughout all those decades.
Continued.....Part 5......A family affair