For the architects at Paris-based RDAI, nature holds just as many questions as it does answers. Using 3D and parametric tools, they looked to some of Earth’s smallest and most intricate organisms – spiders, butterflies and coral – to interpret nature’s hidden geometries.
After modelling the patterns of spider webs, butterfly wings and corals, they passed on the abstracted images to long-time collaborators, Toronto-based textile design studio Creative Matters, which worked with a collective of master artisans in Nepal to transform these natural structures into vast and delicate woven landscapes.
Photography courtesy of RDAI
The result is Zoometry, a collection of six rug designs that mesh RDAI’s architectural know-how with Creative Matters’ understanding of material and colour and the painstaking craftsmanship of the weavers.
The rugs are made from Himalayan wool, with elements such as dots and raised or indented lines picked out in Chinese silk. The designs are intended to play with perspective, says RDAI architect Johan Thuillot, who shows OnOffice around the Mouvement Modernes Gallery during the collection’s launch.
Photography courtesy of RDAI
“With the butterfly rug, we wanted to play with perspective and express the idea of iridescence,” he says, explaining that butterfly wings are covered in thousands of overlapping scales.
These reflect and refract light, which here is expressed as a gradient and radiating motif. Another butterfly design reflects the dynamic curvature of a wing.
The spider rugs come in two interpretations – one reflecting glimmering dew drops trapped in a spider’s web, and the other a composition that reflects the delicate work of Madagascar tangle-web spiders; in both, luminous silk softly emerges out of the depth of the clear wool background.
“All these animals have this geometric aspect,” says Thuillot. “So we just had to dig into it and try to identify how to turn it into a workable design.”
Photography courtesy of RDAI
The handcrafted nature is evident in tiny imperfections, but that’s part of the rugs’ charm, says Clémence Hardelay, Creative Matters’ director of design for Europe.
“We started with an image where the circles were perfect, and the lines were perfect. But because the rugs are handwoven, you can really feel and see the craftsmanship.”
Photography courtesy of RDAI
No rug will be exactly the same, and Creative Matters can work with bespoke dimensions and swap out materials for more hardwearing variations according to intended use.
The companies often work together on commercial projects, but Zoometry is the first collection that they collaborated on outside a specific project. “I thought it was really fun to have a little bit more freedom in colour and design,” adds Hardelay. “There is a really great synergy between us.”
Photography courtesy of RDAI
‘Zoometry’ will be on show at Mouvement Modernes Gallery until 23 September.
The collection is available to buy through both Creative Matters and RDAI, with plans to expand availability through select showrooms and retail partners.
