New York.—Durkan’s new Free Play collection of carpeting, which debuted at Boutique Design New York (BDNY), held here, is designed to inject energy into hospitality spaces through collaboration. This collection is said to showcase the Durkan creative team’s design expertise, resulting in an inspiring portfolio of coordinating patterns that pair together in unexpected ways.
Free Play was developed using fundamental elements of the cadavre exquis (“Exquisite Corpse”) technique created by the Surrealists. This approach to art, in which several artists collaborated on the same piece without knowing what had been added by the artist before them, was intended to unlock the imagination and experiment with styles or modes of design that pushed the artists beyond their routine practices.
“Cadavre exquis was actually a parlor game,” said Elizabeth Bonner, creative design director for Durkan. “Artists in the 1920s loved this game of collaboration because it stimulated them and opened them up to new ways of looking at their own work. As the experimental collaboration unfolded with Free Play, our design team was thrilled by the unexpected patterns that came from these exercises, knowing their creation originated from opening a door to unknown possibilities.”
Free Play is constructed using a variety of manufacturing technologies created to meet the design and technical needs of different hospitality interiors. Together, the collection functions as a full system across Definity, Precision Dye Injection (PDI) and Pattern Perfect platforms, as well as tufted broadloom, so every application within a property has the option of coordinating well-designed, quality solutions across a variety of different flooring categories.
Other collections being showcased include:
Sakiori
Sakiori speaks to the human desire for tactility by combining the soft look of textiles and carpet with the durability of resilient hard surfaces for hospitality. This collection includes three enhanced resilient tile patterns: Hemstitch, a traditional weave; Weave, a multiwidth cord-like weave; and Linked, a vertical striated weave. All styles reference the craft of hand stitching and weaving and pay homage to the makers of yesterday and today.
Large & Local
Each colorway in the new Large & Local collection of enhanced resilient tile is named after a local mountain gap or destination in close proximity to Durkan’s North Georgia resilient production facility. The Georgia mountains are themselves tough and resilient, as is this collection, which makes it an excellent choice for high-traffic, hardworking settings that extend a warm welcome to valued guests. The collection features clean wood visuals with minimal graining, as well as rustic visuals with coarse graining and a circle sawn texture.
Create with Durkan
Guests are creating their own design story at a special interactive station at the company’s booth. Using plexiglass screens to create different and unexpected designs, guests can experiment, play and discover their own “unknown possibilities.” Another design technology available to guests at the Durkan booth is p.s. — Personal Studio. Guests are using Durkan’s latest interactive tool to design, personalize and review their own custom flooring products online. P.s. gives access to best-in-class customer solutions—customize color, patterns and backgrounds of running line products; visualize them in room settings; and order digital or printed samples—with just the click of a button.
