The Gaia Rug Collection
Australian-born rug brand Armadillo has partnered with Spanish artist Carla Cascales Alimbau for Gaia, a range of six texturally evocative rugs inspired by the earth’s elemental forces.
The ripples in sand. The terracotta tones of the desert. The erosive quality of wind and salt. These elemental forces are the inspiration behind Australian-born, globally renowned rug brand Armadillo’s second creative collaboration: a series of six sublime rugs designed in collaboration with Spanish multidisciplinary artist Carla Cascales Alimbau.
“Carla’s work is incredibly feminine and beautiful, yet raw, strong and powerful – a combination that deeply resonates with our artistic practice.”
The Gaia range embodies every facet of Armadillo’s philosophy – meticulous craftsmanship, a respect for slowness and the artisanal process, conscious creation, veneration of nature and elevated materiality. Similarly, Barcelona-based Alimbau’s work – which includes washed terracotta paintings and poured resin pieces – possesses an intrinsic alignment with the brand’s ethos. “Carla’s work is incredibly feminine and beautiful, yet raw, strong and powerful – a combination that deeply resonates with our artistic practice,” says Armadillo co-founder Jodie Fried.
The creative collaboration was global in nature: Fried and her co-founder Sally Pottharst spent extended periods of time with the artist in her Barcelona studio, as well as in India, working with artisans to perfect the unique hand-carvings and intricate weavings that define the collection. “By entwining Carla’s artistry with the profound skills of our artisan weavers, these highly sculptural and painterly pieces are artworks in their own right,” says Fried.
“Rhythmic gradients reminiscent of tidal ripples in the sand bring both visual depth and emotional resonance to any space.”
Gaia comprises six rug styles in a gentle, earthy palette of terracotta, ochre and ivory, with subtle tonal nuances. Marea – named for the Spanish word for tide – is a luxurious, dense, hand-knotted wool rug, where “rhythmic gradients reminiscent of tidal ripples in the sand bring both visual depth and emotional resonance to any space”. In silk and wool, Alma features an ultra-low pile that undergoes an oxidation process, resulting in unique tonal variations and a lustrous patina. “This treatment, new to our practice, introduces a subtle luminosity and variation that ensures no two rugs are identical.”
Cirrus is the most textural piece in the collection, hand-knotted from pure wool, with plush pillowy piles rising from a base of soft, undulating bands. Aerie is handwoven with a taut linen warp and alternating jute and wool-blend weft, “revealing tonal variations speckled across its subtle, grid-like surface”. The low-profile Palloza is flat-woven in jute, with a textural gridded pattern in two complementary tones and combines earthy texture with practical durability. The final rug in the series, Willow, is lightweight and low-profile, featuring a linen warp and wool-jute-blend weft, finished with a loose fringe and “offering relaxed tactility and refined ease across everyday living spaces”.
An experiential-led campaign will launch the collection this month, created by Fried and her husband, Oscar-winning cinematographer Greig Fraser. Central to the roll-out is Chiaroscuro, a film that is, in essence, a paean to the craftspeople who populate Armadillo’s world, “artists who work with their hands, who write their ideas with the tips of their fingers,” explains Fraser. “This is a love story of their craft.” A New York City pop-up, The Gaia Gallery, not only showcases the rugs but features medium-format still photography by Fraser and artworks by Carla Cascales Alimbau, blurring the boundaries between art, design and nature.
