NTMA Awards:

Bethesda Academy of Performing ArtsHonor Award

Architect: Wood and Zapata, Boise, Idaho

Terrazzo Contractor: Roman Mosaic and Tile Company, Linthicum, Maryland

Designer/Artist: Heidi Lippman, Boise, Idaho


Washington area artist Heidi M. Lippman designed and oversaw the layering of a 4,000 square-foot terrazzo floor, called “Imagination and Discovery,” in the new Imagination Stage, located in downtown Bethesda.  The floor is one unique aspect of an architecturally significant building by Boston-based architects Wood + Zapata.  The building - striking in both its visual beauty and its purpose - is a theatre arts center serving young people and their families.

The terrazzo material is composed of an epoxy “medium”.  It is 3/8” thick and a vivid blue color with a wide variety of glass and stone chips from all over the country, adding color and depth.  The floor is particular in its emphasis on the quality and depth of color and texture as well as the complexity of its zinc divider strips.  Lippman says designing the floor “was similar to doing a 4,000 square foot drawing.  I was seeking emphasis on how truly rich this material and concept could be.”  

The concept uses forms described by the Fibonacci sequence - an infinite set of numbers that never repeats.  Through the centuries, this mathematical sequence has been discovered in the spiral growth of seashells and the complex petal formations of certain flowers and has been utilized by artists, musicians and poets to convey perfect harmony within their works.  Lippman uses the Fibonacci sequence in teh flooring of Imagination Stage to symbolize growth and development, reflecting Imagination State to symbolize growth and envelopment, reflecting Imagination Stage’s goal of creating a place where all creativity is nurtured and all talents respected.  Lippman sees her design as “a metaphor for the unique qualities of each individual as they contribute t

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