2012 Student Design Competition Sponsors

Since 1972, The Mosaic Tile Company has been the distributor for all your ceramic tile and stone needs. As the largest independent distributor in the Mid-Atlantic Region, The Mosaic Tile Company offers ten Design Centers displaying some of the most diverse porcelain, ceramic tile and natural stone products from around the world. From the most technically demanding installations to the most challenging of design aspects, our professionally trained staff is here to answer and question.

From Spain to Italy and Brazil to Mexico, The Mosaic Tile Company offers you the largest variety of tile, stone, metal and glass products from around the world. Only at The Mosaic Tile Company can you experience the world of ceramic tile and stone and get the product availability and service that will exceed your expectations. Visit the Tile and Stone Gallery on our website to browse our offerings or visit our Manufacturer’s Page if you know exactly what you are looking for.

The Maharam Design Studio governs the research, engineering, design, and development of textiles for seating, walls, windows, systems, and healthcare applications. The collection ranges from Original Contract Textiles, which are drawn from our archives and reflect the enduring traditions of weaving, to fashion-forward concepts and materials. The Maharam Design Studio maintains a strong focus on new technologies and cultural markers, often finding inspiration beyond the textile industry, including collaborations with avant-garde industry outsiders.

Conceived to foster an open dialogue across varied design disciplines, collaborative projects introduce a fresh perspective and unexpected media into the world of textiles. Collaborators whose work speaks of authenticity in a strong clear narratives—such as Dutch industrial designer Hella Jongerius, New York based illustrator Maira Kalman and British fashion designer Paul Smith—help shape Maharam’s product orientation. Furthermore, these long term collaborations foster deep creative exploration and offer luxury as expressed through critical thinking at the convergence of innovation in material, technique and form.

Maharam has also created a repository of forty textiles drawn from the archives of the great multidisciplinary designers of the 20th Century, spanning the design movements of the Wiener Werkstätte, Bauhaus, and mid-century modernism. Textiles of the 20th Century pays homage to the work of Anni Albers, Charles and Ray Eames, Alexander Girard, Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser, George Nelson, Verner Panton, Dagobert Peche, and Gio Ponti by bringing their work in textiles back to life. The benchmarks for reissue are very specific: The textiles have to be uncompromised in quality and interpretation, and as aesthetically relevant today as when they were designed. Particular attention has been paid to accurate documentation and detailed rendering, while assuring suitability for commercial application.

A more recent initiative, Maharam Digital Projects, is an assemblage of large-scale digitally printed wall installations created by emerging and established artists and designers. Offering a sophisticated range of content generated by Silvia Bächli, Dan Graham, Vik Muniz, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and others, Maharam Digital Projects are scaled and produced on a project specific basis using UV-resistant pigment inks on a latex-saturated substrate intended for direct wall application.

Maharam textiles are included in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago; Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum; the Museum of Modern Art in New York; and the Stedelijk Museum of Amsterdam, among others. Maharam is the recipient of the 2007 Design Patron Award for its longstanding support of cultural and design initiatives.