Smart City by Mohawk Group is a Path to a Smarter Planet
Smart cities unite people through high–speed technology and connectivity. As cities continue to inspire their own cultures, create personal opportunities, and remain where business headquarters are located, cities are shaping key experiences for the many different people who call them home. Inspired by the city of today and the cities of tomorrow, one company has created a carpet system that highlights the urban environments of the future, made in a sustainable way.
Mohawk Group’s Smart City collection—a 12″ x 36″ Living Product carpet plank system—explores a future in which the urban environment nurtures its citizens through these advancements and sustainable development. “The best cities and urban environments are well planned and fluid, making creative use of space to maximize efficiency and growth,” said Jackie Dettmar, Mohawk Group’s vice president of design and product development. “We looked to this model to create Smart City, specifically how this vision of metropolis and community responds to the needs of all who inhabit and visit—whether through walkability, accessibility, the integration of green space or any number of factors that actively improve quality of life.”
The carpet plank collection reinterprets the transit maps of major cities and urban areas into soft surfaces for commercial interiors. The system includes two options, the Urban Model and the Urban Mobility. Urban Model offers an organic base pattern that reflects the texture and rhythm of a metropolitan mapscape in three distinctive hues and contrast levels while Urban Mobility coordinates pattern styles with linework and bold accent colors inspired by the subway systems of Berlin, Istanbul, London, New York, Paris and Shanghai.
Another priority for cities, their citizens and companies alike, is sustainability. Mohawk Group’s latest collaboration was informed by the AIA 2030 Commitment and the Gensler Cities Climate Challenge (GC3), initiatives that call for all new buildings, developments and major renovations to be carbon neutral by 2030. Not only that, but Mohawk Group’s manufacturing site in Glasgow, Virginia uses the Living Product framework to decrease water usage and focus on special processes and community partnerships that lower environmental impact.
“As the maker of Living Products like Smart City, we believe better design examines both embodied carbon and materials health to produce sustainable products that help reduce the carbon footprint of our customers and lead the way in transparency,” added Dettmar. All Living Products support and contribute to healthier commercial environments and their end users by being free of toxins and other harmful chemicals of concern, while also protecting the outside environment. Additionally, the manner of manufacturing aligns with socially responsible practices that are respectful of workers’ rights.
Red List–free Smart City styles feature Mohawk Group’s award–winning Heathered Hues yarn system. Texture and blending provide a variegated wool–like appearance, creating the manufacturer’s most natural–looking nylon yarn to date. These commercial fibers create a warm, biophilic aesthetic that is well suited for commercial environments—especially those set in more industrialized, urban areas where nature is hard to come by. The innovative yarn is dematerialized for a lower impact, and no water is used in its production, plus Duracolor Tricor solution–dyed nylon fiber and EcoFlex NXT tile backing are used as well. Duracolor Tricor utilizes a groundbreaking modified triangular–shaped core to deliver unsurpassed stain resistance, colorfastness, durability, color clarity and enhanced soil performance.
