The Cult of ... Carpet?

Apparently, the cult of carpet is a strange side effect of becoming an It City.

According to a recent article in StyleBlueprint, our airport’s “swirly, monochromatic, adorably tacky” carpet (above) has quite the following – and the fanaticism has ramped up in light of BNA’s plan to replace it as part of its general remodeling. There’s a petition to save it. There’s also an Instagram account. And apparel inspired by BNA carpet’s design, including yoga pants & iPhone cases.

This fun celebration of place harkens back to when Portland emerged as It City and citizens’ love for their distinctive airport carpet reached a fever pitch (Above: old PDX carpet, a dedicated PDX carpet enthusiast, new PDX carpet). Someone using the cheeky moniker “T.S.A. Eliot” even wrote an ode to it. Unlike BNA’s carpet, though, PDX’s carpet design team created a proprietary pattern that reflected the geometric view of the airfield, as seen from the control tower. By comparison, our existing airport carpet is a relatively uninspired 80s beige, corporate modular design. It will be interesting to see what BNA rolls out next.

Now, with no disrespect toward BNA floor covering in the past, present and future, there may be another Nashville carpet worthy of cult elevation: Music City Center (below: select Music City Center carpet variations). Beautiful in scale and variety, architecturally complimentary and unlikely to allow flattened gum or stray threads to sully its visage, Music City Center’s carpet is as bold and brash as the building itself. (Kudos to the design team of Moody Nolan, Inc., Tuck Hinton Architects and tvsdesign.)

What Nashville carpet captivates you? Share comments on Facebook or Instagram. We’d love to revisit this topic again soon!