ALAIN GILLES THE STUDIO – 4 NEW CORK WALL FOR GREENMOOD

Images courtesy of Alain Giles/Greenmood

Brickx & Morse – Customizable Cork Tiles, Parenthese – Warm Minimal Cork Tiles, Sillon – Cork Tiles with Seamless Generative Patterns

With the introduction of 3D cork tiles in the Greenmood collection, Alain continues to push the biophilic logic that is the brand’s hallmark. In this case, Alain is not playing with naturally preserved plants, but with the bark of the tree from which cork comes.  Like the mosses and lichens used by Greenmood, cork has good natural acoustic properties and is also a very good thermal insulator.

The sustainability aspect of cork is also a key element of the project. It is a completely renewable material that can be recycled. It comes from the bark of the cork oak tree, which is manually harvested every nine years, as it needs time to regenerate. Its production does not cause or contribute to deforestation.

The PARENTHESE Cork Tiles

With the Brickx & Morse cork tiles, the idea was to bring the outside in and add a more natural element to an interior. Both concepts come from the same inspiration, all those historic and sometimes very graphic brick walls that can be seen around cities and in the countryside. They both explore the kind of graphic and three-dimensional research that has traditionally been done on brick buildings.

The Paranthese

With these concepts, Alain plays with the idea of creating certain rhythms by using the logic of longer and shorter bricks, hence the name Morss for one of the bricks. Alain also referred to the logic of placing bricks at an angle and playing with different color combinations that are so common in older brick facades. He plays with the past to create something fresh and new, and also taking it out of context and applying it to a very different material.

Presented by Zipblind

These cork tiles are meant to be a tool for architects to help them create their own specific visions and versions of walls, so they are customizable. Each cork panel comes with an add-on module that allows the creation of different patterns within the general wall pattern. One of the triangles, or bricks if you prefer, is missing, creating an empty flat space. This space could either be filled by gluing a module of the same color to the panel, thus making the Cark panel whole again. It could also be filled with a module of a contrasting color, in a way creating a layer with a second pattern that will bring a certain lightness and depth to the cork wall. This space could also be left empty and flat, which would also result in the creation of a specific pattern. Of course, all three options can be mixed and matched to create a unique wall design.

The Brickx & Morse cork tiles

The natural aspect of these cork tiles is further enhanced by their unique custom texture, which gives them real presence and depth. A special blend of cork has been created to give the tiles their unique texture and color combination, further enhancing their natural qualities. The idea was also to bring a certain irregularity and humanity to each piece and in the end to each wall.

The Sillon cork tiles