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Six hand-crafted rugs born from a collaboration between Armadillo and Barcelona artist Carla Cascales Alimbau. Woven landscapes you can walk on.
Armadillo’s new Gaia collection, created in collaboration with Barcelona artist Carla Cascales Alimbau, pushes hand-knotting, oxidisation and carving to places the rug market has not been before. This is what it looks like when craft becomes art.
There is a moment in the making of a great rug when technique gives way to something else entirely. The hands of the artisan are still moving, the knots are still being tied, but something has shifted. The object being made is no longer simply functional; it has become a record of intention, of time, of place. This is what Armadillo has always sought. With the Gaia collection, it has perhaps come closest to achieving it.
Gaia is an ode to the quiet power of nature: a meeting point between the raw and the refined, the enduring and the ephemeral. Comprising six rug styles, each one hand-crafted in premium New Zealand wool, pure silk, jute and linen, the collection evokes landscapes shaped by wind, water and time. Each design draws from the transient cycles of nature and its effect upon the land, from the erosive energy of wind and salt to the influential impact of the sun and clouds.
The catalyst for this collection is Carla Cascales Alimbau, a Barcelona-based artist whose practice spans sculpture, painting and site-specific installation. Her work is defined by a minimalist aesthetic and a poetic sensitivity to material, form and texture. She works intuitively with natural materials such as linen, stone, metal and wood, often favouring earth-toned pigments and sustainable processes.
It was Carla’s washed terracotta paintings and poured resin pieces that provided the foundation for the Gaia collection to evolve into a woven medium. Her relentless quest to evoke the essence of forms that appear in the natural world translates with remarkable fidelity into the language of the loom.
“I’m drawn to natural materials, and the quiet strength that comes from paring things back. In this collection, every knot, every thread carries intention. Nothing was rushed, nothing was accidental.”
Carla Cascales Alimbau, Artist
The Gaia collection evolved over several years, involving much time spent in Carla’s Barcelona studio. These creative exchanges led Armadillo’s co-founders, Jodie Fried and Sally Pottharst, to India, where they worked closely with artisans and weavers, developing new advancements amongst the company’s hand-knotted ranges.
This collection acknowledges a significant evolution for Armadillo. Key pieces pushed the technical boundaries of carving and explorations of depth and dimension in ways not previously achieved in the rug market. Each yarn is carefully orchestrated to enable tonal variations to dissolve into another with exquisite fluidity. Combined, the signature series within Gaia is testimony to Armadillo’s ever-evolving artistic enquiry and innovation.
“Entwining Carla’s artistry with the profound skills of our artisan weavers, these highly sculptural and painterly pieces are artworks in their own right and deserve to be appreciated like fine art.”
Jodie Fried, Armadillo Co-Founder
Marea Hand-knotted wool, intricately carved by hand to create smooth gradients that reveal kinetic ripples inspired by the ebb and flow of the ocean. Elegantly finished with a long fringe in four tones: Vellum, Savon, Clay and Russet. Equally at home on the floor or suspended as a wall piece.
Alma -Pioneered by a new group of Indian artisans, is a silk and wool hand-knotted rug whose ultra-low pile undergoes a selective oxidisation process unique to each piece, introducing subtle luminosity and tonal variation. A weathered beauty, available in Cumulus, Nectar and Urn.
Cirrus -The most richly textural rug in the collection: pure wool, hand-knotted so that pillowy piles rise above a lower base in an organically banded rhythm. Plush and enveloping underfoot, ideal for bedrooms and lounge rooms. In Salt and Wafer.
Aerie -A hand-woven flat weave of linen warp and wool-jute weft, its tonal variations speckled across a subtle grid-like surface. Deceptively robust and versatile, its strength comes from paring things back. In Coconut and Bellini.
Palloza -Tightly flat-woven jute in a low-profile textural grid, named after thatched roof dwellings in north-west Spain. A design that speaks of measured balance rather than excess. In Rattan and Shale.
Willow -Linen warp, wool-jute weft, finished with a loose, extended tassel. Updated with two new hues developed with Carla: the serene Kiln and richly robust Henna, echoing the earth-inspired palette of her art.
Colour: The Palette of the Earth
Gentle earthen colours and subtle tonal nuances play a key role across Gaia. Inspired by the organic pigments used in Carla’s work, variable terracotta, ochre and ivory hues echo the shades found amongst sandy shorelines, rocky outcrops, dusty deserts and woodland floors. Colour here is not decorative; it is geological.
Chiaroscuro: The Film
To launch the collection, Armadillo partnered with Academy Award-winning cinematographer Greig Fraser on a short film titled Chiaroscuro. More than a brand film, it stands as an artwork in its own right. Its abstract, poetic narrative traces the act of creation: from the first moment of inspiration, through refinement and contemplation, to the emergence of a physical form.
Fraser captures a vast visual landscape, from sweeping scenes of the natural world to moments of modern life, interwoven with the tactile presence of the Gaia rugs. The imagery honours the craftspeople whose artistry begins with materials drawn from the organic environment, mirroring Armadillo’s philosophy of harmony with the natural world. The film was shown at The Gaia Gallery, a pop-up in New York City that brought together the film, Fraser’s medium-format stills, original artworks by Carla, and the collection itself.
“Armadillo is a home to great craftspeople: artists who work with their hands, who write their ideas with the tips of their fingers. This is a love story of their craft.”
Greig Fraser, Cinematographer
Each Gaia rug is a woven landscape to both observe and inhabit. They reserve a space for stillness within the home, enabling the body to feel supported and the mind to rest. Their sensorial beauty acts as a reminder to live purposefully, knowing that everything flows and transforms.
As with all Armadillo’s rugs, the Gaia collection is designed to be treasured for years to come. It bears testimony to the company’s ongoing preservation and evolution of artisanal skills to be passed on to generations to come. Carla and Armadillo’s harmonious design language shares a reverence for nature, simplicity, and craft, centred on the thoughtful trace of the human hand.
The Gaia Collection by Armadillo x Carla Cascales Alimbau is available now at armadillorugs.com
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Get the insider news and lowdown on what we've been up to, where we've been, and who we've met along the way. Be the first to discover new places and get the scoop on our favourites.