Designwire Daily: from the editors of Interior Design magazine

Johnsonite Pledges Flooring to Architecture for Humanity

by Laurel Petriello | Friday, July 9, 2010

Humanitarian efforts don’t go unnoticed here at Interior Design and we’re sending a shout-out to flooring manufacturer Johnsonite this week. The company hosted an interactive, charitable design event at last month’s NeoCon, titled “Collage of Possibilities.”

Johnsonite invited attendees to position samples of their rubber and linoleum flooring tiles upon a blank canvas to create a colorful, collaborative collage. For each tile placed, the company pledged to donate square footage of product to the San Francisco-based, non-profit design firm Architecture for Humanity.

Due to the excellent level of participation, the company will be donating 3,000 square feet of their Harmonium xf Linoleum to be used in projects such as the restoration and rebuilding of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, following January’s horrific earthquake.

“We believe that our efforts to create positive change should extend beyond sustainable building products and practices and should reach into the communities those buildings serve,” said Diane Martel, vice president, environmental planning and strategy for Johnsonite’s parent company, Tarkett North America. “NeoCon is a show that gathers architects and designers together to introduce them to new things—products and ideas that can change the industry. We thought it was the perfect venue to encourage creativity and transformation on a different level. It’s about being good stewards of the earth and good neighbors to the people who live on it.”

Images courtesy of Johnsonite.