SOLON, OH, JUNE 8, 2020 — As the world reexamines the meaning and use of physical space, the way our built environments can facilitate the collision and cross-pollination of people and ideas is more important than ever. Light Shift, the latest modular carpet collection from Tarkett developed in partnership with designer Suzanne Tick, celebrates these communal spaces—specifically the way natural light can invite joy, wellness and a sense of family togetherness in them.

Drawing inspiration from scientific studies of light waves and frequencies, as well as man-made phenomena like light trails and reflections from architectural facades, the Light Shift Collection interprets the profound ways light changes throughout the day to dramatically shape our experience of a space and influence us as interconnected beings.

“Light is the easiest point of entry to the senses,” said Tick. “As a little girl, I remember watching light reflect off of water during the day, and transition to the light of the moon and glistening of the stars at night. Light plays and displays all the time. It makes us aware that everything is a part of the unified.”

The collection includes three distinct carpet patterns, as well as a coordinating luxury vinyl tile:

Specular
The most structured of the modular collection, Specular borrows its imagery from mathematical grids, but with a shifting, corrugated expression. Light and color emerge from behind the grid, creating a backlit effect, and break through it, with subtle color moving across the surface, allowing the viewer’s perspective to change depending on the angle. This impression of movement, and the way the color seems to come through the grid like a reflection, inspired the idea of its mirror-like luminosity.

Light Shift
With its organic texture and saturated colors, Light Shift’s subtle, atmospheric pattern seems to absorb light in some places while bringing it to the surface in others, ultimately distributing glowing color equally across the modular pattern, and creating the effect of planes of color. Light Shift’s fine-grain pattern pairs well with the more linear designs of the Specular and Parallel Ray patterns.

Parallel Ray
Parallel Ray explores the synergy of color and texture in a pattern of broken, parallel lines. The play of light between the dark and mid-tones creates contrast and a feeling of movement, while the scattered, broken lines create a larger textural pattern. The resulting rays of light, and their stop-and-start interaction with fields of color, evoke the shadows that occur in the Specular and Light Shift patterns.

Glint
This coordinating LVT expresses the color and pattern of light seen in the digital realm, relating the layered visual patterns seen in technological light conversions. The loosely overlapping, linear grids of dissolving rectangles, in both neutral and bright colors, display a change in kinetic energy though space to create a layered effect.

Windshields today, carpet backing tomorrow.
Tarkett was the first flooring manufacturer to source a waste stream outside our industry for the development of a new non-PVC carpet backing. ethos® Modular with Omnicoat Technology® is made from the PVB film of recycled windshields and safety glass. This Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Silver backing has enabled Tarkett to recycle the film from 28.2 million windshields between 2004 and 2019, which kept about 29,000 tons out of landfills.

About the Designer
Suzanne Tick specializes in materials, brand strategy and design development for commercial and residential interiors. She has maintained a distinguished career as a textile designer, studio principal and consultant in New York City. In addition to serving as a design consultant for Tarkett, she also serves as Creative Director at Luum and Design Partner with Skyline Design. For more information, visit suzannetick.com

For more information about Tarkett and the company’s comprehensive range of flooring solutions and accessories, visit www.tarkettna.com

About Tarkett
With a history of 140 years, Tarkett is a worldwide leader in innovative flooring and sports surface solutions, with net sales of €3 billion in 2019. Offering a wide range of products including vinyl, linoleum, rubber, carpet, wood, laminate, artificial turf and athletics tracks, the Group serves customers in over 100 countries across the globe. Tarkett has 12,500 employees and 33 industrial sites, and sells 1.3 million square meters of flooring every day, for hospitals, schools, housing, hotels, offices, stores and sports fields. Committed to change the game with circular economy, the Group has implemented an eco-innovation strategy based on Cradle to Cradle® principles, with the ultimate goal of contributing to people’s health and wellbeing, and preserving natural capital. Tarkett is listed on Euronext Paris (compartment B, ISIN: FR0004188670, ticker: TKTT) and is included in the following indices: SBF 120 and CAC Mid 60. www.tarkett.com

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