We’ve seen rugs that let you cruise through the cosmos in your slippers, but these lovely floor coverings take a more terrestrial approach. Each of the one-meter-square samples is hand-tufted to depict a small glimpse of the world as viewed from Google Earth.
Portugal, 2013
It’s a beautiful concept in itself — the idea that we could enter a whole new part of the globe with a single step — but Dutch designer Roosmarijn Pallandt created the series, Consider this Landscape a Territory, as a kind of bridge between cultural heritage, modern tech, and production processes. Each of the source images is taken from the area where the craftsmen live, and they use local, natural materials like silk, wool, and jute — all undyed — to knot the carpets into something that resembles the unique surrounding terrain.
The results straddle the line between art and decor, and, in such a nice milky white, I can’t imagine ever wanting to risk sullying one with a footprint. That’s ok: it was conceived as more of a research project than business plan, to raise questions about (and awareness of) manufacturing methods in the textile industry while supporting the search for sustainable practices. [Co.Design]
Lead image: Thailand, 2012, in jute, wool, linen, hemp, ramie, and silk, cotton