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MOSAICS & ROBOTS CIRCLE NO. 48 Artaic's work did not go unseen by major players within the com- mercial construction sector, including Bostik, one of the world's largest producers of adhesives and sealants, and manufacturer of Dimen- sion RapidCure Glass-Filled, Pre-Mixed, Urethane Grout. Dimension contains micro-glass beads and a translucent, urethane binder that both refect light and allow it to pass through. In particular, this adds an illuminating sparkle, creating one-of-a-kind, three-dimensional effects within glass tile installations. "When I frst was introduced to the Artaic robotic mosaic production process, I was blown away," says Scott Banda, director of marketing for Bostik's Consumer and Construction Business Unit. "One of our primary business goals is for Dimension to be the grout product of choice within the commercial construction arena, especially for glass mosaic projects," Banda says. "Already, today's top architects and designers are referring to Dimension as 'another great design component,' which is absolutely unheard of in the grout world. We are now partnering with Artaic as we successfully forge toward this goal. We believe Artaic's futuristic technology, combined with the inimitable characteristics of our Dimension grout, together will ultimately bring back the high levels of architectural awareness, acceptance and specifcation of which unique mosaic design dominated hundreds of years ago." "I learned about Bostik's Dimension grout before it even came to market, when it actually was in technical development," Acworth says. "We were able to collaborate and develop unique formulations for Artaic's special purposes, as well as learn about the standard offerings and how well they worked with our products. In fact, we now have every Bostik grout characterized in our mosaic computer design software and can quickly model the grouts for our clients – through both digital renderings and physical samples – in about one day… and, at no charge." Some of the planned initiatives of this partnership for 2016 will include co-sponsorship of Apple Store Workshops. In the past, Artaic has hosted "Public Art in the Digital Age" workshops in major market Apple stores. Apple sees Artaic's proprietary mosaic design software as ftting closely with its creative brand position. The purpose of these events was to bring architects and artists together to integrate artistic mosaic installations into building practic- es. Bostik recognized these to be progressive and visionary technical exercises and, thus, will be tag-teaming with Artaic in similar programs beginning early in the New Year. Workshops such as these in places such as Boston, Chicago, New York and San Francisco. Other metro- politan milieus soon will be announced. The iconic American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright once stated, "The architect must be a prophet... a prophet in the true sense of the term... if he can't see at least 10 years ahead, don't call him an architect." "We've studied the 4,000-year, chronicled history of mosaics," Acworth says. "We learned where it all began, where it evolved to and where it came to a standstill. Our M.O. to offer the architectural world a way to resuscitate and invigorate the acceptance of it is, in our way, a bit prophetic, too. We want to incite a strong mosaic movement that will result in world-class mosaic design being specifed for signature design projects, for decades upon decades to come." CCR 104 COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION & RENOVATION — NOVEMBER : DECEMBER 2015