Today, we have compiled for you the time travel of our parquets, which accompany us almost everywhere in our living spaces with their warmth, aesthetic stance, naturalness, beautiful colors, texture, and types.
1875 - Les Raboteurs de Parke (Scrapers) - Gustave Caillebotte
Thanks to its easy availability, wood has provided the most basic needs of humanity. It has been a valuable resource for survival (such as staying warm, cooking, and making fires) and enabling technological advances.
In addition, the use of wood as a building material dates back to before written history. In ancient times, they obtained houses by using branches and timber to create their living spaces. They built everything from homes to boats, from ships to hand tools, using various types of wood. Used as a structural building material, wood was much more common in northern climates with abundant large trees.
According to known historical records, the emergence of hardwood as a flooring material dates back to the Middle Ages.
French Parquet History
The word "Parquet" in Turkish comes from the French term "Parquet" meaning wooden floor. The word Parquet is also derived from the word "Parchet" meaning "small enclosed space".
The first parquets were created by craftsmen combining small wooden blocks in geometric patterns, blocks of different colors and sizes in different ways. Its history dates back to 16th century France.
Most of the mansions and castles, first in France and later in the world, were paved with quarried marble or stones. Such costly floors, built on wooden beams, adversely affected the wooden carcass below due to weight and wet washing. It created an endless maintenance challenge. For this reason, the innovation in upholstery created a brand-new fashion in 16th-century France. The new mosaic-style wood flooring has resonated around the world.
From 1625, artistic French parquet and inlay patterns began to appear. These floors consisted of small cut pieces of wood joined together by hand in three-dimensional contrasting designs. After assembling, it was hand scraped, sand rubbed, and polished until it was shiny. This meticulous craftsmanship was only suitable for the wealthiest clients and royalty.
Palace of Versailles – Hall of Mirrors
In 1684, Louis XIV replaced the old marble floors of most rooms in the famous Palace of Versailles in France with 'Versailles parquet panels'. The most famous room in the Palace of Versailles, the Hall of Mirrors, is one of the most famous in the world, with hardwood floors measuring nearly 75 meters long. It is one of the most beautiful examples of ornate wooden floors built in palaces at that time.
Versailles flooring consists of a diagonally placed pattern in a square form and is still known by this name today. The floors of the queen's guard room are designed differently from the other rooms. A V-shaped floor covering called Chevron is considered for this room. Chevron Flooring is one of the first references for flooring.
Wooden floor coverings in the Palace of Versailles attracted a lot of attention in those days. In this way, people started to better understand the flooring product called parquet. However, in these years, the high parquet prices prevented people from choosing parquet easily.
Urbanization has increased the demand for parquet, but when people thought about the difficulties in producing and applying parquet, they sought parquets that were more easily produced and applied.
Expansion of Parquet with Technological Developments
At the beginning of the 19th century, more and more parquet patterns began to appear. But hardwoods were only found in the wealthiest homes.
With the industrial age, machines were developed for the finer grinding of timber. The steam and electric power development during this period led to a growing need for better housing. Then it led to the demand for more wood flooring materials. Oak quickly became the preferred species due to its availability, cost, ease of processing, strength and beauty. With the increasing demand and the great increase in world trade, the use of exotic imported species as well as native hardwoods began to develop rapidly.
The hardwood flooring industry we are familiar with today began just before the turn of the 20th century. In 1885, a machine was developed that allows the boards to fit tightly by interlocking and providing the tongue-and-groove (tongue-groove) joint detail on the edges of the boards.
Technology advanced rapidly, the process brought better milling options and easier installation. Then the central heating system kicked in and started damaging the hardwood floors. The invention of the dry kiln gave flooring a better chance to succeed in normal living conditions. Despite this minor setback, wood flooring was still by far the most popular option.
The Fluctuation in the Flooring Industry
After its revolution of hardwood flooring products in the world, it has proven itself well. Then, it has become the number one choice for luxury interior design, but the rise of hardwood flooring was short-lived. As a result of changing design understandings and the industrial revolution, flooring such as carpet, ceramic, stone, tile, and bare concrete became a viable design trend and rivaled parquet in floor applications. It made fluctuation in the hardwood industry.
In 1966, the US Federal Housing Authority approved carpet flooring under a 30-year mortgage. Homeowners and builders alike demanded carpets that were cheaper, easier, and quicker to install than expensive and labor-intensive hardwood. This decision played an important role in the decline of the hardwood flooring industry until the mid-1980s.
The Beginning of a New Age: The Invention of Engineered Wood Flooring
The only alternative used until the middle of the 20th century was solid flooring, which is single-layer parquet. However, it could lose its stability due to climatic and environmental conditions. With the search for a more ecological product, engineered wood flooring, a multi-layered wooden flooring system, was designed and produced in 1983. A revolution has taken place in the parquet industry.
Engineered wood parquet is a natural product obtained by laminating wooden layers to each other as two or three layers. The substrates are made from low-grade wood or plywood. In the upper layer, the tree itself is located. The word origin of engineered parquet comes from "lamine", which means bonding. It represents material made up of layers that adhere to each other.
Expert in wood technology and wooden structures, Italian engineer Prof. It was invented by Guglielmo Giordano. The aesthetics of the parquet has increased and the ease of application has been provided. In addition, its resistance to environmental factors is maximized.
Parquets, which are included in design decisions as an architectural element, take an increasingly active role in every structure from our homes to public buildings. With the development of technology, it is among the indispensable floor covering products of designs by offering more options than ever before. It defies years with its stance.
Dendro Engineered Wood Parquet was founded in 2004 by Aspen, which offers the world-building industry the products and application methods required by modern architecture. Dendro has become one of the world's leading companies in the sector with its product quality in the production of laminated parquet since its establishment.
We carry the parquet culture to the future with our Marküteri (Squares), Chevron & Herringbone, Planks-Country, and Planks-Pure Line models throughout history.
References:
https://tr.wikipedia.org
https://www.builddirect.com
