Global architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) took to the streets for its collection of textured ceramic tiles intended for contract and commercial interiors. Each of the four patterns in the KPF City Collection has the appearance of natural stone and riffs on certain defining characteristics from four of the firm’s favourite cities – New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai and London.
For New York (above left), the urban grid of high-rises is interpreted into a simple yet abstract geometry with undulating and intersecting horizontal and vertical banding that encapsulates the energy and rhythm of the city; reflecting the density and verticality of Hong Kong’s (above right) tower block facades and surrounding mountains resulted in an intense pattern of tightly configured and irregularly shaped rectangles.
With London (above left), the designers focused on the natural forms, textures and colours found in the city’s parks, gardens and squares to develop a tree bark-inspired motif on a light stone texture; alluding to the patchwork of traditional and modern rooftops that are found throughout Shanghai (above right), this pattern features interlocking rhomboids with strong horizontal and diagonal lines.
