Hospitality

Exclusive ^rhospitality carpeting from acclaimed textile designer

One of Europe’s most acclaimed textile designers has for the first time created an exclusive carpet collection for the hospitality sector, working in partnership with international carpet manufacturer Desso.

The new carpet ranges have been designed by Dutch artist Barbara Broekman who is a graduate of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam and the California College of Arts and Crafts in Berkeley.  Her works can be seen in several collections, including the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

One of her most recent carpet designs was for the Stadgenoot housing association in Amsterdam, but underlines how her work, rendered into hard-wearing Axminster, can also be applied across the hospitality sector – creating interior spaces in which art and design start from the floor.

Her inspiration was taken from an eclectic mix of sources – from aerial photographs of cities to microscopic images of blood cells, all cut in pieces, blended and finally mixed back together – to meet a brief that required both inspiration and to reflect a philosophy that quality living environments also enhance the social environment.

Broekman’s works are also inspired by a fascination for chance experiences, and the things we glimpse from the corners of our eyes – things that impose their presence on us, but which all but elude us when we try to recall them later.

Her colourful, dynamic forms and images are fairly simple when viewed in isolation, but Broekman combines them into complex compositions in which colour, movement, rhythm and depth are interwoven. In each of her works she creates an area of tension between the various details and their unifying geometric context.

Broekman has worked on specific projects with Desso for a number of years, and has now completed an entire and exclusive collection for the hospitality sector, where her work, with its large formats, deep colours and suggestion of movement, are intended to directly confront our senses.

Desso has long expertise in designing and manufacturing carpet for the hospitality and marine markets worldwide – and the company’s specialist Hotel, Marine and Aviation (HMA) division works with companies such as Hilton, Intercontinental, Maritime, KLM, Virgin, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Holland America Line. Among others, the company supplied carpeting for Cunard’s newly-launched Queen Elizabeth.

“We work closely with many different hospitality brands, and our philosophy has always been to provide carpet solutions that are both functional and creative.  Hotel brands are always looking for that “wow” factor, and our collaboration with Barbara absolutely achieves that,” said Roland Jonkhoff, Desso Managing Director, Hospitality, Marine & Aviation.

Broekman addresses subjects we are confronted with in our everyday lives, such as love, death, birth, loss and relationships. The images she creates may not be immediately readable, and the viewer has an active role in the process of interpretation.  Her images appeal both to gut feelings and spiritual awareness.

For a copy of the Barbara Broekman Landscape Collection brochure contact hospitality@desso.com.