MKE, BGR, XIY and NKG (clockwise from top left) —
Bangor International, Maine (BGR) possesses one of the world's most opulent airport carpets. Known simply as the "Carpet of God," its "recurring logarithmic spirals converge on a never reachable point known by geometrists as the 'Eye of God,'" according to George Pendle, self-described CEO and summer intern of Carpets for Airports. Meanwhile, the spirals at China's Nanjung Lukou (NKG) "morph beneath the tired traveler's feet like a psychedelic oil spill ... clearly referencing Nanjing's burgeoning role in chemical manufacturing," although admittedly the spectacle "transcends allusions to human endeavor."(Courtesy: Geoff Greeley, George Pendle, Daryll Cooke, Arthur Burnard)
CAN, LIM, EWR and MFR —
The canny use of color by Lima's Jorge Chavez International (LIM) is aimed at soothing the traveler according to Carpets for Airports. "With its muted, calming gold and white looms, LIM envelops one's nerves in a lush fibritic embrace ... steering your thoughts away from possible engine failure and the looming Andes."(Courtesy: Peter Jolicoeur, Tim Vallings, George Pendle, Matthew Hays)
DAR, LGW, NNG and DEN —
Chinese airport Nanning Wuxu's (NNG) floor covering "suggests a demonic carpet dragged onto the Earth's surface from one of the lowest carousels of Hell." It's unclear whether this is a positive critique. London Gatwick (LGW) on the other hand boasts quite simply "one of the greatest airport carpets ever manufactured," possessing a subtle complexity that beguiles those that walk upon its hallowed weave. (Courtesy: Tim Vallings, Dominic Elliot, Andy Cooke, Kevin Miyazaki)
ITH, MCT, KHK and JFK —
New York's Ithaca-Tompkins airport (ITH) is small but mighty, rather like the atom-like tricolor detailing on its carpet. Carpeteer Atif Chaudhry suggests students from the nearby Cornell University might be responsible for the design, weaving it "into the carpet over the years ... vainly attempting to find they way back from the labyrinth of Spring Break."(Courtesy: Atif I. Chaudhry, Robert Bush, Pepe Rockefeller, George Pendle)
PDX, MCO, SGF and SCL —
The king is dead! Long live the king! In January this year Portland International Airport (PDX) did the unthinkable and replaced what was airport carpet royalty, a "neo-Suprematist paean to Russian artist Kazimir Malevich." The new iteration was met poorly, and unsurprisingly has failed to supplant the much-loved original on the Carpets for Airports website.(Courtesy: Andrea Bakacs, Gwynna Forgham-Thrift, G.L.G, Elsa Gorter)
SIN, SMF, MSY and KUL —
The carpet at Singapore's Changi (SIN) airport has quite a reputation. The "psychologically terrifying" covering is "designed to give anyone who walks on it the impression of falling out of the window of a skyscraper in the brightly lit Downtown Core, Singapore's business district." A short hop away in Kuala Lumpur (KUL), research from Pendle and fellow carpeteer Dominic Elliot has revealed that the airport carpet's fiery loom is maintained with a "main puteri" healing ritual from a resident medicine man.(Courtesy: Tom Messenger, Benet Wilson, Joan Krevlin, Dominic Elliot)
SJO, BDA, YYC and GSP —
L.F. Wade International, Bermuda (BDA) is a harsh convergence of the elements, its "contouring contusions ruthlessly challenging the status quo"; a fiery storm in the tropics settled by the cool "cerulean blue." Standing on it "is an exploration of the relationship between artist, subject and carpet. 'You stand on me,' it seems to say, 'Why?'"(Courtesy: Gili Wolf, George Pendle, Max Meyer, Marko Veil)
