Dutch architect Ben van Berkel of UNStudio has designed a range of carpets patterned to mimic the facades of some of his firm's buildings (+ slideshow).
Van Berkel's Hem collection for German brand Carpet Concept features abstracted images of natural and urban patterns from different times of the day.
The dotted designs echo the perforated facade of UNStudio's Dance Palace project in St Petersburg and the giant illuminated grid that surrounds its Galeria Centercity complex in Cheonan, Korea.
A digital pixellation process was used to create non-directional patterns across the carpets, which appear as different graphic effects when viewed from various angles and distances.
The close-weave carpets feature one dominant colour and small dots in a number of other hues – available in 34 different combinations.
"Part of the inspiration for the designs and the patterns was to give them more complexity through the use of different colours and the directionality of active movement," said Van Berkel.
"This creates a spatial layering quality which is quite unusual in a two-dimensional surface, but is something that can often be found in our work," he added.
Van Berkel argued that architects have the advantage of taking spatial and contextual considerations into account when designing products.
"Approaching the design of a product as an autonomous object – as product designers tend to do – also has its advantages," he said. "But lately clients like to embed their products with these added dimensions also."
The Hem carpets are designed for use in homes, offices and hotels. Other products by UNStudio include seats with curvy backrests for Offecct and an S-shaped chair for Artifort.