The Design of Carpets That Design Us explores corporate control underfoot

The latest exhibition at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) is The Design of Carpets That Design Us, an exploration of how a carpet can transform an architectural space into a device for profit. Through images and case studies in display cases, videos by filmmaker Ralitsa Doncheva and a series of photos by artist Assaf Evron, curator Dan Handel reveals how a seemingly banal part of our everyday lives has implications in architecture in economic systems.

“Hotels, casinos, convention centres, and office spaces often come complete with dazzling, confusing, and disorienting carpets. These carpets are on occasion designed by architects but most often by corporate designers, brand rules, and user behaviours. Hospitality experts have laboured to establish an alchemy of carpet production that intensifies experiences and habits that cater to the interests of property owners.”

Handel also explores the notion that architects essentially relinquished authorship of carpet design, failing to realize that carpets could enhance their buildings instead of “neuter” them.

“The exhibition highlights the motivations and techniques of designers within flooring corporations and explores how big corporation design rules have taken over carpet production in alignment with branding strategies, ultimately exposing how carpets play a key role in conditioning user behaviours and transforming architectural spaces into devices for profit.”
—Canadian Centre for Architecture

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For more on the Canadian Centre for Architecture exhibition The Design of Carpets That Design Us, please visit the CCA website.

For more on the Montreal arts scene, please visit the Arts & Life section.