NEW YORK -- Interior Design and ICFF presented the fourth annual NYCxDESIGN Awards tonight, with five area rug manufacturers vying for top honors in the residential flooring category, and GAN named 2019 winner.
The rug makers included GAN, Heymat, Kasthall, Nanimarquina and Rug & Kilim. The global design competition celebrates the outstanding products and design projects of New York City across major areas of design. It is an open and inclusive awards program recognizing excellence in design from the hundreds of events that comprise NYCxDESIGN 2019, including ICFF.
Submissions were by a jury of 14 design industry leaders. Winners and honorees, representing the very best design talent, were recognized at tonight's awards ceremony and party. Winners will be published in Interior Design magazine, promoted on Interior Design's digital channels, and presented with a custom award created by Lladró.
Nuances in all its permutations, Curve, Line and Round rugs and ottomans are shown in the burgundy colorway.
GAN, the indoor home and rug division of Valencia, Spain-based Gandia Blasco with its showroom in Soho, was chosen as winner of the DESIGNxNYC award for its Nuances collection. Designed by Patricia Urquiola the collection features a felt base (80 percent recycled wool and 20 percent viscose) and viscose embroidery. Each piece of Nuances is entirely sewn by hand by skilled artisans.
The line comes in three colorways (Burgundy, Naiad, and Volcano) in the Nuances Curve, Nuances Line and Nuances Round designs, all with a granite inspired pattern. Cushion ottomans and wall hangings are also available.
Nuances round rug by Patricia Urquiola for GAN in the Naiad colorway.
Heymat Heymat + Collection
The Sand design from Heymat's new Heymats + collection in recycled plastic.
Made from recycled materials, Heymat's new collection of doormats, Heymats + was introduced at the Stockholm furniture & Light Fair in February 2019. The eco-friendly rugs are woven of pile in 100 recent recycled plastic. "Design could, and should, be sustainable," says Sonja Djonne, CEO of Heymat. "We have done our utmost to create a doormat that delivers on quality, design and sustainability.
Heymat+ is created by Kristine Five Melvaer, one of Norway's leading designers. Inspired by water, vegetation and zen gardens, the three monochromatic 3D patterns offer a scratch effect that efficiently deals with dirt and grime. Like all Heymat's products, Heymat+ comes with anti-slip backing in nitrile rubber, a partially recycled material.
"The mats aren't just environmentally friendly because they are recycled, but their high quality ensures a long life," says designer Five Melvae. "It's up to me to create a design that makes the customer want to use it for the same amount of time."
Designed by Five Melvaer for Heymat, the new Stra mat in the Heymat + collection.
Kasthall From the Sun to the Moon
From the Sun to the Moon by Lara Bohinic for Kasthall.
Sweden-based Kasthall launched the limited edition From the Sun to the Moon collection at the Salone del Mobile earlier this year, consisting of rugs, wall hangings and accessories for the home. Designed by Lara Bohinc, internationally acclaimed British designer and founder of London based Bohinc Studio, the collection is inspired by the serenity of Japanese rock gardens in patterns and materials that express style, function and heritage. The entire collection is made from wool, and in some places, a mixture of wool and flax. Selected elements have been tufted using overspun felting yarn, with both cut and loop pile, creating a boucle loop texture.
The collection includes two rugs, two wall hangings, and a range of decorative cushions. The palette of muted pastels, earth and rust are drawn from nature, and all the products are produced in Kasthall's factory in Kinna.
"The patterns that I have designed are derived from my graphic language of opposing circles and curves with straight and angular geometric lines. It is all about contrasts and finding symmetry within asymmetry," Bohinc explained.
From the Sun to the Moon collection by Kasthall is a finalist in the NYCxDESIGN awards.
Nanimarquina Capas Collection
Capas designed by Mathias Hahn for Nanimarquina reworks the classic kilim.
Capas, designed by Mathias Hahn, arises from the desire to create a rug that focuses on layers of colors, tonality and shadow to create intense depth while also being easy enough to blend into any environment and space. The designer's aim was to create a simple and light rug that has a casual feel while being complex in the use of colors and formation of depth.
The five designs in the collection are hand-loomed of 100 percent hand-spun Afghan wool. After months of investigation, Nanimarquina and Hahn developed a new type of loose kilim structure which allows mixing the colors of the warp and weft. Normally, the warp is not visible in a kilim. By defining a different density of warp new tonalities surfaced, providing a visual texture where colors intertwine with each other along the carpet. The unique texture creates a dark-and-light effect that reflects light and cast shadow.
"By loosening the fibers and using a thicker warp, we made new colors and textures visible, celebrating greater depth and enhanced tones," Mathias Hahn notes.
Color is a pivotal element of the Capas collection. Each rug has a main color, a complementing tone and its darker gradient which in the composition gives the illusion of a cast shadow on the floor. Each rug is a color chord of a certain main color.
Nanimarquina's Capas by Mathias Hahn toys with the flatweaves warp and weft for visual impact.
Rug & Kilim Custom Collection
Rug & Kilim's Mid-Century Modern collection mines history for inspiration.
Known for its fine antique and vintage rugs, NYC-based Rug & Kilim decided to focus on mid-century designs for a Custom Collection that showcases the company's capabilities to designers attending ICFF 2019.
In fact, five pieces from the larger collection of 33 styles were submitted to the NYCxDESIGN Awards, earning the company recognition as one of the five finalists. The designs are all hand-knotted of natural wool, wool and silk or wool and mock silk pile. "These are Mid-Century Modern designs from the 1950s and brought to life, revitalized into new styles," said Josh Nazmiyal, principal, Rug & Kilim.
The designs include the Bauhaus-inspired Geometric rug 13532, the Mid-Century Modern Applecross Rug 15159, Mid-Century Modern Blues rug 15156, Mid-Century Modern Perpetua rug 13982 and Custom Grisaille rug 18739.
Nazmiyal said that the rugs reflect the company's projection for the future of rug fashion for at least three years to come.
"You don't see anything like this right now, but I strongly brelieve this will resonate with designers." However, he's expecting the company's Texture of Color collection to be the ICFF show's top seller. "It's always our bestselling line -- very spare, modern, simple -- and very well priced. People like simple."
Rug & Kilim's Mid-Century Modern Custom collection re-imagines the era's iconic designs.