Welcome to COLOR BLOCKED an installation by Tarkett & Studio RENS
Tarkett and Studio RENS present recolored textile tiles during 3daysofdesign 2022
During the city-wide design festival 3daysofdesign in Copenhagen (June 15-17), Tarkett and Studio RENS will showcase the installation COLOR BLOCKED. The recolored textile tiles on display is an example of how the life of an existing material can be prolonged. Rejected or obsolete textile tiles are being spruced up with creative color palettes before eventually being recycled to become new raw material. The installation is also the first sneak peek of an upcoming collection for Tarkett, designed by Studio RENS.
Welcome!
Studio RENS is a design research firm based in Eindhoven in the Netherlands. Renee Mennen and Stefanie van Keijsteren founded the studio on the belief that color is not just an aspect of design, but the beginning, middle and end of the process. In 2012, the two designers began to explore the color red. Red, being an emotional color, a color for warnings and bold statements, is notoriously difficult to use in interior design.
Can a color really be wrong?
Studio RENS asked Tarkett for samples of textile tiles that were obsolete or rejected because of mostly little tufting defects. These tiles were set to be recycled in Tarkett’s facility in Waalwijk, but Studio RENS gave them an extra life.
By re-coloring the tiles and let them be bound together with the color red, they made all the previous hues and nuances work together in harmony. Depending on its original color, the tone of the tile will shift. But this is the point.
Design is so much about perfection and control. If the color of a product differs slightly from the rest of the collection, it’s discarded. If the color bleeds, it’s discarded. But in reality, materials are different. The same color will look different on different materials. Even the same color on the same material will look different in different lights.
We wanted to show how you can work with imperfection and variety — even with “difficult” colors like red — and still get a beautiful result.
- Stefanie van Keijsteren.
Creative color palettes bound by red
For the exhibition in Copenhagen, two different color pallets are used, mounted in three-dimensional blocks. One with a base-tone of yellow, the other blue, fitting perfectly together united by the color red.
The yellow block is sunny, inspired by the gray light of the space. We wanted this one to look positive and bright with the red evoking the idea of sun rays. The blue block is more serious. Diffused colors with a bluish, dark feel.
- Stefanie van Keijsteren.
The work made Studio RENS reconsider the color red.
— You should absolutely use it, says Stefanie. To us, it became something like a warning and reminder. Don’t reject any tiles!
3daysofdesign June 15–17
COLOR BLOCKED will be on display at Kongernes Lapidarium (the Lapidarium of Kings), a part of the National Museum of Denmark. Further enhancing the experience, the installation is surrounded by 400 sculptures from Denmark’s royal castles and gardens.
When: June 15–17, 10.00 a.m. to 18.00 p.m.
Where: DDCated Designhub, Lapidarium of Kings, Christian IV’s Brewhouse, Frederiksholms Kanal 29, Copenhagen.
We hope to see you there!
Bubbles on the canal
When: June 15, 16.00 p.m. to 19.00 p.m.
Where: Frederiksholms Kanal 25A, Copenhagen
Welcome to celebrate with us and Studio RENS. We will treat you to bubbles and canapés onboard the boat Fyrskibet, docked in the canal outside our exhibition at the Lapidarium of Kings.