In the cut and thrust of daily life it can be hard to remember that we are technically still animals. One could argue that design has a lot to answer for in this regard, largely cosseting and coddling us from the wilder world. Yet one of the more intriguing areas of the design industry to have emerged in the wake of our quest for more environmental and ethical practices is the rise of biophilia.
Biophilia charmingly translates from Greek as: ‘for the love of nature and living things’. Until recently, biophilic design meant bringing forest loads of house plants indoors to mimic the effect of being outside whilst in offices and apartment blocks.
Today, brands and studios are digging a little deeper and interrogating the processes that lie within their systems of manufacture, delivering designs that are closer to nature themselves.
Enter Studio Tai Ping, which is launching a range of 16 carpets called the ‘Biophilic Collection’ and the ‘Biophilic Series’ at the London Design Festival 2024 in September. Designed and developed by Tai Ping’s Parisian design studio (which has previously collaborated on carpets with André Fu), the eight carpets in the Biophilic Series mimic shadow play, reflection and organic ephemera.
Meanwhile, the Biophilic Collection consists of eight hybrid-tufted carpets playing with multi-level pile heights and gradations to tactile, graphic effect.
All carpets are made with a variety of wool, silk and jute – all undyed, avoiding the intensive water-reliant stage of manufacture, and lending the collection a neutral palette, quite literally derived from nature.
The Biophilic collections are of course beautiful carpets. But designing with the mission to celebrate the natural qualities and properties of the raw materials from which they are made is hearty proof that beauty is more than skin-deep.
The carpets feel good too, and the feelgood quota of their low environmental impact is a breath of fresh air, in a sector of the industry that struggles in this realm.
In celebration of the collections’ launch during London Design Festival, Tai Ping has enlisted the help of Margate-based environmentalist, designer and maker Sebastian Cox to augment its showroom with an installation that honours the power of raw materials. Cox is renowned for his indefatigable rigour when it comes to circularity of a sylvan nature. We look forward to seeing a woody wonderland come to life.
Tai Ping, 117-119 Fulham Road, London SW3 6RL
Taipingcarpets.com
