Retro carpet and palette based on Gae Aulenti's 60's chair for Poltronova

Retro carpet and palette based on Gae Aulenti’s 60’s chair for Poltronova

26/09/2021
Category: Mood boards

For our latest mood board, we decided to take inspiration from none other than the works of Gae Aulenti. Aulenti was a famous Italian architect and designer with an eclectic and diverse career. From industrial and exhibition design to graphics and interior, there were few areas she didn’t explore. While best known for her work with the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, our mood board draws inspiration from her furniture collection. In particular, our vision stemmed from this distinctive 1964 chair design that became characteristic of Aulenti’s innovative style.

According to Aulenti, she felt furniture should never dominate a room. From looking at this piece, this belief in this is clear. The low-slung frame made with rounded metal is soft and comfortable, enveloping the room in alluring playfulness. Made from fabric and soft padding, the seat is also minimal yet large and inviting. The chairs have a distinctive retro feel from their curved shape, heightened by the bullseye-like circular fabric pattern. Aulenti has got the balance between capturing your attention without dominating it perfectly. Her Locus Solus 1964 chairs for Poltronova are practical, playful, and unique.

As a backdrop for this Gae Aulenti-inspired mood board, we made a retro carpet by recoloring Beat by Ege Carpets. The concentric pattern mimics the fabric used in the 1964 chair. Additionally, Aulenti’s design works with primary colors, and our retro carpet takes on these tones in more quiet, muted hues. We also love the morphed circular shapes in the print. They almost replicate the shape of the steel frame in the side profile, adding the same element of irresistible playfulness.

On top of our retro carpet, we layered several other complementing products. Contrasting directly with the carpet we layered Cubism by Standard Textile. The geometric shapes and angular lines juxtapose the fluidity of the retro carpet. However, thanks to similar red and yellow tones, the two work well in combination. Moreover, this material is slightly brighter and fresher, more alike to the colors worked into the original chair design. Tucson Coral: 5 by Benjamin Moore further adds brightness. By using these three products alone already we have a full spectrum of tones, from a dusky deep red through to bright and playful coral.

The rest of the products used in the mood board are quiet. This acts as an ode to Aulenti’s belief that no one item in the room should assume dominance. Chiffon by Silver State Inc. and Domino Subway Tile Beveled by MSI are pale and bright. They add lightness and space to the room, just as the chair’s white base allowed the pattern to shine. Shia by Richloom Contract and Claridge Glass by Claridge, although both taking on yellow tones, don’t overpower the palette. The former is interspersed with white for a softer effect, while the latter’s transparency prevents it from dominating.

If you love the retro carpet used for our backdrop, you may be interested in our Easy Recolor Program. It enables you to recolor any of our carpet patterns to the colors of your choice and visualize the final result online. This way, you can produce the perfect carpet for your next commercial interior project. When designing your carpet, choose from nine different substrates and receive your personalized sample within five business days. At an affordable price and with no minimum order, start designing your carpet today. As always, you can get in touch with our team for help.

PRODUCTS USED:

Beat RECOLORED by ege carpets

Cubism by Standard Textile

Domino Subway Tile Beveled by MSI

Claridge Glass by Claridge

Shia by Richloom Contract

Tucson Coral: 5 by Benjamin Moore

Flow by Gerflor

Chiffon by Silver State Inc.

retro carpet, Retro carpet and palette based on Gae Aulenti’s 60’s chair for Poltronova

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Sitting right next to Pompidou in Paris is Atelier Brancusi. This place is a reconstruction of the studio of renowned Romanian-born artist Constantin Brancusi. In the atelier, there are 137 sculptures, 87 bases, 41 drawings, two paintings, and more than 1600 grass photographic plates and prints by the artist.

Brancusi died in 1957, leaving behind a lot of his work in his studio, which consisted of 11 joined studios. The Romanian artist would break down walls to adjoin studios and create various environments to exhibit his work. He considered the relationship between sculptures and the space they occupied to be of crucial importance.

In 1997, the Atelier Brancusi as we know it today opened its doors on the esplanade of the Center Pompidou. So much of Brancusi’s work is on display at the atelier, giving you an idea of how much the artist put into the world. There are wood and plaster sculptures, bronze colonnades, animal shapes, and photographic studies. It is a beautiful and inspiring place to visit.

Inspired by the stone and natural textures of Brancusi’s work, we recolored the Stone Surface carpet. This is part of the nature collection by ege carpets, which takes inspiration from forests, deserts, and oceans. This light recolor of the carpet allows you to bring a textured palette to your next interior design project.

We created a material board that focuses on a textured palette with the atelier colors and the recolored carpet in mind. We included dark woods like Texas Mesquite 83000 and Artisanal Hardwoods. Keeping the dark brown theme, we also included different textured textiles like Artisan Textured Finishes by CopperSmith, Basketcase by Cortina Leathers, Lafayette Velvet by Opuzen, and Chesney by Valley Forge Fabrics. Additionally, we decided to bring some lighter tones of cream and white by adding Cove, True Terrazzo, Concrete Look Porcelain Paver, and Passion. To tie in the soft colors with the dark ones, we included mid-toned neutral paints like Crewel Tan by Sherwin-Williams and Mesa Tan by Dunn-Edwards Paints.

If you like our textured palette, you might be interested in our Easy Recolor Program. We used this to recolor our Stone Surface carpet, enabling us to source the perfect backdrop for our textured palette. Using our online tool, you can do the same. Choose from any of our collections and recolor them to match any interior. You can then visualize the carpet before ordering physical carpet samples. You’ll receive your samples within three business days at an affordable price. Contact us if you want to learn more.