Desso installs specially designed carpet at UN headquarter

The lounge is a place where people can meet informally; there friendships can be formed and agreements sketched out away from the more formal proceedings.

As part of this project, Desso collaborated with the Dutch designer Hella Jongerius to create the most impactful carpet texture and colour for this important new project.

Hella Jongerius was part of a Dutch design team provided to the UN as a gift from the Netherlands. The designs submitted were assessed by a selection committee headed by the Netherlands' Chief Government Architect. A key criterion was whether the design team took an interdisciplinary approach, in keeping with practices of the original team of architects involved in the 1950's design of the UN headquarters in New York, which included Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer, Max Abramovitz and Wallace K. Harrison.

The winning Dutch team also included the architectural firm OMA, the graphic designer Irma Boom, the artist Gabriel Lester and the theorist Louise Schouwenberg. Their aim was to transform the North Delegates' Lounge into a 'Gesamtkunstwerk'(total work of art) that would put the Dutch creative industries in the international spotlight.

“It is exciting for us to be involved in such an inspiring and creative project. It is thrilling to imagine that in the future, diplomats and politicians might develop informal friendships and find solutions to some of the world’s crises and difficulties in this newly designed room with our carpets.

"Hella was searching for a specific kind of feel reminiscent of the traditional Berber woollen carpets, so we developed a special carpet just for this project which had a different mix of wool and goat hair to achieve the coarser texture she was looking for.” Roland Jonkhoff, Regional Managing Director Desso.

Desso