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As they turn on the lights and they open the doors to the hotel, you can stand back and
look at the whole thing together and it was almost magical. My name is Howard Harris and
I'm the President and CEO of Rareform Design Group. The specialty architectural glass,
metal, and artistic fabricator to produce unique art pieces for environments. The Waldorf
Astoria was a very special feature wall. When you walk in the front doors of the hotel,
you're greeted by two sculptures left and right of our decorative wall. The wall itself
is almost 20 feet wide and 30 feet tall. Simeone Deary is an amazing design firm. The have
a unique group of people. Throughout the period of the 6 years that we designed at the hotel,
we root our properties in the locations. I really wanted that to resonate because Chicago
does have an amazing architectural history. We had found a picture, of a gate that was
found in Chicago and we thought this would be a great element to add our little Chicago
twist, because of course you want to give a hotel a sense of place within the city.
There is a combination of materials used in the screen. The metal has been cut and fit
in an ornamental pattern. It set behind a temporary cast glass that's been back painted
to look translucent. The chandelier in the space in front of our piece is a wonderful
compliment. The chandelier itself is an art piece. Our wall is an art piece. The way the
two combine together is wonderful in that they're both glass, metal, polished surfaces.
The transmittance of light in the fixture brings out sparkle in the wall piece, so the
sculptural wall is uniquely illuminated by that fixture and the two reflect off each
other and really play well together in the space. That's a wonderful feature of the
hotel when you walk in and you understand that the hotel is about design, it's about
art, it's about craftsmanship. At the end of the day when we get the piece delivered,
installed, and it goes up, and everybody is in love with it, it makes it all worth it.