The rise of the city inspired many artists, writers, and designers, as open spaces were replaced with awesome skyscrapers and labyrinthine passages. In the nineteenth century, French poet and critic Charles Baudelaire popularized the concept of the flâneur, or metropolitan wanderer. Strolling, observing, loafing, the flâneur reacted to the transforming cityscape with a detached eye, becoming a “botanist of the sidewalk.”

Metropolis. Designed by Todd Oldham for Durkan-the hospitality brand of The Mohawk Group.

In the twentieth century, Walter Benjamin wrote about the covered passages of Paris and how they extended the range of flânerie out of the elements and into the halls. Now, in the twenty-first century, none other than Todd Oldham is getting inspired by the city. His Metropolis Collection for Durkan, the hospitality arm of Mohawk, seeks to bring “city streets inside.” It’s an urban collage underfoot: “Elements of streets and architecture such as intersections, grates and spires are transformed into Metropolis' 29 graphic patterns: 15 broadloom patterns, two medallion insets, three corridors, two design border, three rugs and four coordinating, patterned cove base designs.” Sharp angles, graphic lines, and bold squares meet in kinetic designs that interpret the hustle and bustle of downtown. For Oldham, the city is New York, but underfoot it can be any city–from Moscow to Madrid, Berlin to Barcelona.

Lucia. Designed by Todd Oldham for Durkan-the hospitality brand of The Mohawk Group.

Metropolis. Designed by Todd Oldham for Durkan-the hospitality brand of The Mohawk Group.

Lucia. Designed by Todd Oldham for Durkan-the hospitality brand of The Mohawk Group.

If you prefer urbane to urban, then Durkan’s Lucia Collection might be your cup of tea. Taking its cues from “light playing on lace, papery wings and loosely woven fabric,” this series brings calm and serenity indoors. The overlaid patterns and subtle variations include “ethereal and elusively feminine elements”–ghostly traces of butterflies and feathers. Lucia is mysterious and empyrian. While Metropolis is hard and dirty (think Italian Futurism), Lucia is soft and otherworldly (the work of Kay Nielsen comes to mind). Both of these collections illustrate the range of Durkan, which makes contemporary commercial carpeting…contemporary.