NEWS photo Mike Waketletd

JOHN Ames of Ames Bros. Distributors Ltd. recently opened a tile showroom on

the second floor of Home Hardware near Capilano Mail.

4401 West: loth Avenue 22 7155

look of European
bec

JOHN Ames recently
opened a new show-
room of tile in North
Vancouver, the newest
expansion of a family
business that began in
1912,

The recently opened show-
room is on the second floor of
the Home Hardware store at
915 W Ist St.

The main operation of
Ames Bros. Distributors Ltd.
is in Burnaby, with show-
rooms in Edmonton, Calgary
and Winnipeg.

While the use of tile has

“Richmond Centre 2 279-0201 | Onkridge Centre 266-3613

exploded over the past
decade, Ames says North
America still has a long way to
go before tile gains the popu-
larity it has in Europe.

Every fall, he travels to
Bologna, Italy, to a trade
show that features tile from all
over the world. It is the
largest trade show in the
world, eclipsing even
women’s fashions with a 1.5
million sq. ft. of display space.

Ames says larger tiles, 16 x

popular

16 inches, and even as large as
24”, are a growing trend.
Europeans, who have never
embraced carpet like North
Americans, have — always
favoured larger tile.

Porcelain and different
textured surfaces are also
making waves. New manufac-
turing techniques can imitate
marble or stone so closely that
it’s almost impossible to tell
the ceramic tile from the real
thing.

Going back to fing —
‘modern’ influences
Retro Modern, by Lisa Skolnik, Friedman/Fairfax, 96

pages, $24.95

Terry Peters
Contributing Writer

MODERNISM produced buildings and furnish.
ings with clean, functional lines.

During its heyday between the ’36s and the 60s, mod-
ernism blended into the homes of the rich’ and the average.
Unique, individual creations appeared alongside. mass. pro-
duced furnishings which all reflected , the influences of the
miodera designers. :

Today, as new
designs “draw from
the past, there are
contemporary looks
which incorporate _
the ola and new
together - without
conflict. —

Skolnik approach-
es" her subject by
dividing it into four
chapters: The Leaner
Home, © Room’ |
Design, Prime Pieces.
and... .Modern
Adornments. In each:
chapter she outlines

: the influences and offers ideas on how. to‘achi

your home. With lots of colour photos to illustrate’
ples of modernism she has ‘chosen, ‘there. is!

She completes her introduction with the following observ:
tion: “The style that we know as modernism ‘is ‘so elementary

and uncomplicated, but at: the ‘same time, so’ eloquent-and

sophisticated, that it is the perfect v Vehicle for bringing balance
to our fast- “paced lives.” ;

(across ‘rom Windsor err
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