Information : Todd van der Kruik
info@unioneighteen.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

I.D. MAGAZINE SELECTS ECO FRIENDLY STUDIO FOR 2008 ANNUAL DESIGN REVIEW

"RAW" RUGS BY UNION EIGHTEEN EARN FEATURED SPOT IN I.D. MAGAZINE’S 2008 ANNUAL DESIGN REVIEW

Long Beach, CA – March 2008 – ID Magazine has selected Union Eighteen design studio’s eco friendly designer rugs for a coveted spot in its 2008 Annual Design Review.

Since 1954, the Annual Design Review has recognized the best in product, furniture, graphic and environment design, from the iconic to the obscure. The celebrated annual showcase has chronicled the evolution of design, and highlighted its impact on material and visual culture. Annually, the featured work is chosen by a jury of leading practitioners, who, along with I.D.’s editorial team, focus the abundance of submissions into a clear survey of the state of design. The highly anticipated overview is published in the Annual Design Review this August.

Featured design house, Union Eighteen, will display its fashionable one-of-a-kind rugs that serve the consumer who appreciates individual style, while doing their part to protect the planet. “RAW” is the studio’s line of hand-made rugs, which are comprised of one hundred percent recycled carpet. Each rug is designed and assembled by hand using scrap collected during the commercial manufacturing process that would otherwise be discarded.

Sadly, up to 800 Million square yards of carpet are added to landfills every year that required 20,000 BTU of energy per pound to produce and will lay in waste for 50,000 years. The revolutionary design of "RAW" is a leap towards change. In association with Bentley Prince Street, one of the world's leading and most environmentally conscious producers of commercial carpet, Union Eighteen has developed a way to sustain the longevity of this discarded material, conserving energy and protecting the environment in an innovative way. “We were amazed by the natural variegation that occurs in texture and color as the pieces are joined in mosaic form,” notes Todd van der Kruik who founded Union Eighteen along with his wife, Meg in October of 2007. Reminiscent of the hand-made elegance seen in Tibetan rugs, no two are alike, with material individually gathered, grouped and assembled by the duo and their team of skilled artisans. Co-Founder, Meg van der Kruik states, “The inherent durability of the commercial-grade nylon lends itself to a long and useful life beyond that for which it was destined“. The rich and varying textures occur in an organic way as the material joins together to create an entirely new entity in design and texture.” Meg states, “It’s like an amusement park for your feet! The texture is as amazing to the skin as the individual design is to the eye."

Union Eighteen is a Long Beach, CA based design studio founded by husband and wife, Todd and Meg van der Kruik. Their focus is on creating sustainable art and interior products through the recycling and reuse of discarded and renewable source material. They bring years of successful experience in textile design, manufacturing, management, and art to the creation of Union Eighteen.