Contract Magazine - July 2020 - 38

FEATURE

Royce Epstein, LEED AP
A&D Design Director
Mohawk Group

Can you describe the new collections from Mohawk?
Mohawk Group is excited to share a new path forward, which includes our
directions for summer and fall 2020, and a look ahead to 2021. Our aspiration is to
connect people, products, and place. Even if we can't be together in Chicago at
NeoCon, we can be together in spirit and purpose. New launches will include the
Optic Reset Collection, featuring Field of View and Shifted Focus modular carpet
planks that consist of a mid-scale pattern in two color values and coordinating
texture, all of which have been created using elements from photography,
illustration, and graphic design. Recent launches will include the Smart City
Collection, featuring Urban Model and Urban Mobility modular carpet planks;
Learn + Live Collection, featuring Accredited, Proficient, and Sabbatical modular
carpet planks; and the Pattern + Symmetry Collection, featuring Patterned Past
and Rustic Plaid, woven broadlooms. We're also doing a relaunch of Nutopia 2.0,
which is a collection of recolored modular carpet planks.
Speaking about cities, what are your favorite cities to visit and why?
Last fall, I went to Berlin for a sustainable materials conference that also
coincided with the climate strikes that were happening around the globe led by
Greta Thunberg. Berlin had three strikes. I went to the family-oriented one and it
was amazing to see kids and their parents all marching for a healthy planet.
Berlin is one of the cities we used for inspiration in the design of Smart City, and I
was surprised to see how walkable that city is. I loved all the public spaces that
are accessible and act as anchor points for people around the city; it felt very
connected. In Copenhagen-which was incredible for a design lover like me-I
spent much time perusing the museums and soaking up the city's design legacy.
Luckily, the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus was happening, so both Berlin and
Copenhagen had comprehensive exhibits related to the centenary of the school
and movement. So those two cities are on the top of my list, but I have to say that
I live in my favorite city-Philadelphia!

fascinating learning about all the women from the school. I also just read the
autobiography of Kathy Valentine, who was the bass player for the Go-Go's. I used
to be in a Go-Go's tribute band, and they were influential to my own guitar playing
style. I just ordered the Debbie Harry autobiography, so that will be next. And for
a more serious book, I am still reading "Sapiens," which is a huge tome about how
and why Homo sapiens have survived. Great stuff to think about especially in
today's age of digital technology, climate change, and a pandemic.
I heard you're doing a Mohawk design festival in July. Tell me more!
Yes, we are having a three-day virtual summit July 15-17 called DesignFWD. It will
be filled with panel discussions, networking opportunities, design features,
podcasts-all sorts of cool interactive content around the theme "A New Path
Forward," looking at people, sustainability, and product. We will also be launching
our new Color + Design Vision 2021: The Visual Age, which is our trend discussion
and forecast for next year and relates to our new product designs and
development. It's an important topic driving design, which is how visuals have
changed since the arrival of Instagram and smartphones. For the 2021 Color +
Design Vision, we will explore this new Visual Age in context of both existing and
emerging trends of how the visual arts affect our viewpoints on life. We will
examine how color, light, and pattern affect our lives. We will visualize future
shifts in aesthetics for design and art as well. Categories for further exploration
include: Filter Fluency, Sensory Immersion, Rendered Reality, and Altered Images.
(Full disclosure: Contract and Mohawk Group will be cohosting "The Path to
Carbon Positive Interior Finishes and Urban Development" webinar on July 15 at
noon EDT).

You designed Smart City as a sustainable product using the Living Product
certification system. Why do you prefer that certification over other labels?
We found that the Living Product platform encompasses everything we want in a
certification system. It covers material health, health and wellness, and
manufacturing and operational strategies. It also covers responsible habitats and
social equity, which we find goes beyond other certification systems. The most
critical piece of Living Product Challenge (LPC) is called handprinting-a
strategy where we practice net positive carbon and water use, and a reduced
energy footprint. Prior to working in the LPC model, we were already engaged in
healthy processes and Red List free declarations, as well as the commitment to
designing with biophilic principles. We wanted to find a strategy that could align
with our product development and distribution and support our design
strategies as well as those of our customers. We are so committed to this that we
turned our carpet tile plant in Virginia into the first Living Site, which means that
all Red List free products from that plant are Living Products.
Are there any books that you are reading or rereading this summer?
I am always reading several books at once. I like to read about art and music
mostly. I recently got the Bauhausmädels ("Bauhaus Girls") book, so that's been
38

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JULY 2020
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Contract Magazine - July 2020

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