t first glance, Pablo Picasso and Armstrong DLW GmbH wouldn't seem to belong in the same universe, much less the same sentence. But at Bau 2013, the flooring maker did for floors what the Spanish painter did for art: It ripped the familiar out by the roots and rearranged it in a way that stunned the senses and bowled over the brain. In awarding the company this year's EDGE Award for Exhibit Design and Graphics Excellence, Exhibit Design Awards judges found its innovative use of intense color and geometric shapes "mind-blowingly beautiful."

Designed by Ippolito Fleitz Group GmbH, the exhibit was covered in the company's Colorette line of linoleum, creating a dizzying landscape of stunning abstract shapes. According to designer Tanja Ziegler, the unorthodox use of the exhibitor's product was employed to convince young architects that this was not their father's linoleum.

A 51-by-20-foot rear wall created an illusion worthy of Houdini: Its two-dimensional polygons seemed to jut out like smoothed stalagmites. Contrasting with this visual lavishness was an elongated counter positioned in front of the wall, where visitors could chat with staffers. A firmament of 90 pendant lights hung above a white rectangular counter. Nearby, attendees could rest on a raised platform made of the Scala line of PVC tiles. The platform's 10 recessed drawers slid out to display additional product samples.

Topping the exhibit, like the crown of a psychedelic king, was a ceiling element with mirrored panels and 3-D versions of the wall's geometric shapes. Attendees gazing up into the 25-by-12-foot structure saw a hypnotically distorted image of the stand reflected back. Perhaps a fractured perspective was the best way to absorb an exhibit whose bold design took flooring one step over the edge.