Alvaro Catalan de Ocon’s Monumental Rug Collection ‘Plastic Rivers’ Arrives in Australia.

Portrait of Alvaro Catalan De Ocon alongside his rug collection. Photo: Veronica Camera, Sistemamanifesto.

Detail of the Ganges Rug.

The Niger Rug (D250cm) from the ‘Plastic Rivers’ collection.

The Indus Rug (200x300cm) from the ‘Plastic Rivers’ collection.

Edge detail of the Yangtze Rug.

The making of the Ganges Rug by local artisans in India.

Álvaro Catalán de Ocón burst onto the design scene with his PET lamps, a social design project based on the reuse of plastic bottles through the intervention of weavers. Ten years on and the remarkable designer returns to one of his favourite materials, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) for Plastic Rivers, a monumental collection of rugs woven with yarn made from recycled plastic debris. The collection is now being introduced to Australian interiors through the premium design retailer Spence and Lyda.

Created ethically in collaboration with the Spanish rug brand GAN and a team of artisans in India, each rug is hand-tufted, and crafted without knots. The resulting handle is a very soft, resistant, and durable weave that, as the Madrid based designer himself notes “makes you wonder whether it is really made of PET and not wool”. Both Catalán de Ocón and GAN believe in sustainable, eco-friendly processes and the use of local craftsmanship while promoting awareness around social and environmental issues.

Each rug depicts a precise rendering of an aerial image of the planet’s most polluted rivers. In doing so, the rugs become a product manifesto that conveys a critical perspective on plastic contamination, particularly in our vital bodies of water, and the global commercialisation of waste from rich to poor countries. Not to mention that being 100% recycled in composition, the rugs can be fully recycled again at the end of their long life.

Related: PET Lamps Ramingining by Alvaro Catalán de Ocón & Indigenous Australian Artist Weavers.

After becoming the winner of Rossana Orlandi’s prestigious Ro Plastic Prize 2021 in the category of Urban and Public Furniture Design, the Plastic Rivers collection launched in Australia last month as the international headliner of Spence and Lyda’s Futures Collective show, held at Villa Alba for Melbourne Design Week 2022.

An absolute highlight of the week, the acclaimed international designer unveiled the works and stories behind them, in partnership with long time champion Fiona Lyda.

“It is a breadth of vision for the future of design, innovation and custodianship of planet, that is both wildly ambitious and exceptionally beautiful—and one we are beyond proud to share with Australian audiences,” states Lyda.

See it for yourself at Spence and Lyda’s Waterloo showroom or find out more by clicking here.

Related: Highlights from Melbourne Design Week 2022.

Installation view of the Ganges Rug from Spence & Lyda-hosted event Futures Collective at Melbourne Design Week 2022, held At Villa Alba in Kew. Photo: Sean Fennessy.

Villa Alba, the location of Futures Collective. Photo: Sean Fennessy.

The Yangtze Rug in situ at Futures Collective. Photo: Tess Kelly.

This Yellowtrace Promotion is proudly supported by Spence & Lyda. Like everything we do, our partner content is carefully curated to maintain utmost relevance to our audience. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Yellowtrace. 

[Images courtesy of Spence & Lyda.]