NeoCon 2015: Dutch designer Hella Jongerius used unconventional supplies and assembly approaches to develop these vividly striped Cork & Felt rugs for Danskina.
Initial introduced in Milan final yr, the Cork & Felt assortment became accessible in the US for the 1st time this spring and was proven at Chicago trade display NeoCon.
The rugs are 65 per cent felt and 35 per cent cork, which mix to generate a floor covering with the texture of material and the durability of cork.
Jongeriuslab, the designer’s Berlin-based mostly studio, groups the felt into five colour classes: warm reds, awesome blues, pastels, higher-contrast colours, and neutrals.
Inside of individuals categories, the felt strips are randomly combined with the cork, creating variation inside an industrialised method and generating every single Cork & Felt rug special.
Jongerius has prolonged been interested in combining components of craft with mass-developed items. Earlier this yr, she released a manifesto calling for a “new holistic strategy to style”.
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The randomised patterns of each rug are anchored by reliable blocks of coloured felt at the leading and bottom of every single rug, to avert the cork from chipping. The strips of felt and cork and connected to a polyester backing but not to every other, permitting the rugs to be flexible.
In addition to using natural components, felt and cork are each swiftly renewable. The rugs can be produced to any length with a highest width of three metres (9 feet, ten inches).
Jongerius is the innovative director of rug expert Danskina, which is jointly owned by textile businesses Maharam and Kvadrat. She has also designed many textiles and wall-coverings for Maharam, which was acquired by American furnishings giant Herman Miller in 2013.
She is one particular of a amount of designers using cork in furnishings and homeware layout. Ilse Crawford chose cork to produce many of the products in her range for Ikea, even though other individuals have used it to make clocks, sofas and even a sound-insulating helmet.
NeoCon 2015 took area from 15 to 17 June at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. The occasion also saw the launch of Herman Miller’s “hackable” foam workplace system and a assortment of African-inspired textiles by David Adjaye.
