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As a way of bringing warmth and texture into an interior, people are increasingly likely to use a textile or rug on the wall of their home. Lucy Upward goes in search of the textile makers who are designing for our wall spaces. 

During Milan Design Week, I got talking to one Dutch designer, Milla Novo, about how people are becoming more open to the idea of using textiles as wall decoration. ‘I see more designers buying textiles to decorate spaces like hotel rooms and interior projects instead of using paintings,’ she explained while showing me her macramé wall hangings that I could easily picture in a cool white walled interior setting.

In a recent presentation at ABC Carpet & Home, Dutch trend forecaster and champion of contemporary textile design, Lidewij Edelkoort announced that ‘Textiles will govern the century.’ Softwear, Edelkoort’s installation with Google at Rossana Orlandi for Milan Design Week, revisited her 1998 prediction of how we will live with technology and focused on how tactility and textiles will help this integration. Textiles—be they artworks, hand-knotted rugs, wall coverings, wall hangings or fabric panels—are growing in importance for our living spaces for many reasons. 

Textiles have adorned and aided our home environments for hundreds of years. If you have ever spent time in the tapestry rooms at the V&A in London, New York’s Met Cloisters or some stately home with tapestries furnishing the walls then you will have some appreciation for the benefits textiles can offer an interior space. Now in the 21st century, the appeal of contemporary tapestries is growing and through events such as Art Basel Miami Beach and the Venice Biennale, it is clear to see that the international design and art elites have embraced.

In Finland we have an old tradition of hanging rugs on the walls and they have been making a comeback lately wall hangings and textile art. In the last ten years, American fibre artist Sheila Hicks has become an important name in the art world while the digital tapestries of Danish weaver Grethe Sørensen have won much international acclaim and Finnish designer Kustaa Saksi’s vibrant Hypnopompic wall hangings have been exhibited in museums across the globe. 

Textile art has also had a major boost from the trend for handmade goods and craft. Creatives Milla Novo and Windy Chien both use rope in macramé-esque wall art that has nothing of the 70s hippy vibe. Portuguese textile artist Vanessa Barragão creates her tapestries by hand for clients’ houses or interior designers. Her most recent work Coral Reef highlights the plight of the world’s coral reefs due to global warming. ‘A lot of my clients do feel connected with this cause and want to have a piece of this ecosystem in their homes,’ Barragão explains.

As well as the craft aesthetic, for a number of years interior trends
forecasts have been playing around with the concepts of ‘global’ and
‘textures’, encouraging a greater use of rugs and textiles, often with more traditional patterns and designs. For this year’s San Francisco Decorator Showcase, designer Cynthia Spence layered antique kilims against an array of cushions and ethnic pouf designs. The recent revamp of London’s BBC TV Centre into 950 apartments includes interior designer Suzy Hoodless’ new communal area complete with dhurries and wall hangings by Vanderhurd.

Textiles are increasingly being used to soften and define architectural spaces, such as Samira Boon’s woven Archi Folds structures (see Features p.92), Hey-Sign’s felt Flow room division system that can alter the dynamics of an office space, and Studiopepe’s wall hangings by cc-tapis shown at Club Unseen during Milan Design Week. Also on show in Milan were the knitted fabrics and wooden frames of Knit Divisions by Finnish design duo Kivistö Leppisaari. Textile designer Anna-Mari Leppisaari and architect Juha Kivistö united their knowledge to make spatial dividers with fabric made at Tilburg’s TextielLab. Both designers recognize the increased use of interior textiles, as Kivistö explains: ‘In Finland we have an old tradition of hanging rugs on the walls and they have been making a comeback lately.’ 

While most rugs find a home on the floor, trawl through interior shots on Instagram and you are sure to come across a host of Beni Ourain or other tribal vintage to antique rugs on the walls of contemporary interiors. In certain circles, the traditions previously described by Kivistö are seeing a comeback while art rugs are also having their day. Gothenburg’s Henzel Studio—a brand specializing in carpets designed by top international artists—often sees clients hanging their wool artworks by Jack Pierson or Tom of Finland on a wall rather than placing it on the floor.

If Lidewij Edelkoort’s predictions are correct, the future will see us
increasingly looking to textiles to shape our world, not only to bring comfort and decoration but art and storytelling.