MILAN DESIGN WEEK 2019
By assessing the best-in-class from this
year’s Milan Design Week, we’ve defined
five strategies for a successful show
IN ITS FIRST-EVER Milan Design Week
sojourn, Tarkett came to answer a single
question: what will it take for architects
and interior designers to see its vinyl floor-
ing as a material with decorative applica-
tions far beyond the oft-ignored space
beneath our feet?
To the brand’s art director, Florian
Bougault, that entailed nudging them towards
a new design language, to convey the many
shapes and forms the new iQ Surface could
take – quite fittingly, the company chose the
Circolo Filologico Milanese as the venue, as
a nod to the learners and lovers of foreign
languages. Note Design Studio, the team that
conceived the terrazzo-like patterns for the
collection, envisioned the material not as a
flat covering, but instead as a flexible fondant
that could follow a limitless range of angles
and curves.
That turned into a series of concave
and convex protuberances, some 24 gargan-
tuan totems that gave name to Formations,
the exhibition Tarkett and Note presented.
The iQ Surface then dripped onto seating
and even decorative objects, further challeng-
ing the perception of its possibilities. It was
supposed to be an exhibition about floors,
but instead they never looked down. It was,
quite simply, an embarrassment of creative
riches: with their bold belief in the aesthetic
and technical capabilities of their vinyl stal-
wart, Tarkett and Note managed to turn an
underdog into an overachiever – Formations
successfully became one of the most photo-
graphed and visited presentations of
the week. – RM
notedesignstudio.se
tarkett.com➀
Push a new
perspective
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