Los Angeles Times by Roy Rivenburg March 26, 2005 (excerpt)
Bellagio's seasonal one-upmanship rite turns the Strip aflutter.
The changing displays are a hit with locals and tourists. And the outlandish props seem to be sparking a battle of one-upmanship along Las Vegas' Strip. ; Even within the Bellagio, there's new competition.... the world's tallest chocolate fountain, a glass-encased contraption that pumps 2 tons of molten chocolate.
"Our challenge." says Stephen Stefanou of DESIGN SOLUTIONS of Dallas, TX. and a member of the atrium's brain trust, " is to create a must-see destination for the jaded eyes of consumers who have seen everything."
It's a wild ride. " No one has any idea of the inner workings," he says.
Like many here, Stefanou has an eccentric past. In college, he was a pre-med major but soon discovered "I excelled in fraternity; our parties rocked."
He dropped out, got a job painting mannequins and later began designing department store window scenes. That evolved into a company that created monstrous holiday decorations for Trump Tower and Rockefeller Center.
Along the way, the snowy-haired 56-year old became a devotee of Werner Erhard and launched a sideline business selling crystals " the size of automobiles."
His metaphysical bent seeps into some of the atrium decor, such as the 3,000-pound, glow-in-the-dark cyrstal obelisk parked by the side entrance. It was sculpted by Baron Andreas von Zadora-Gerlof, a gem artisit whose clients include sheiks and aristocrats.
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