Brazilian architect Estudio Guto Requena partnered with luxury carpet manufacturer Tai Ping to create ‘Tea Hug’, a carpet designed using a process that combines memory, music and Chinese traditions.

The ‘Tea Hug’ rug by Estudio Guto Requena for Tai Ping is an abstract interpretation of a 19th century painting that depicts the first Chinese immigrants in Brazil

An illustration by German painter Johann Moritz Rugendas (1802-1858) depicting the Chinese tea cultivation in Rio de Janeiro, in the region of Jardim Botânico (Botanical Garden), was the starting point for the design.

In a complex design process, Guto used digital tools to transform the image’s color and composition into a new visual narrative.

The first step was to make the image greyscale…

…before pixelating it.

The designers pinpointed the brightest points of the image…

…which they then triangulated, creating a geometrical abstraction of the painting.

A color scheme representative of the painting was selected and distributed using data from the melody of ‘Silk Road’ from Yo-Yo Ma & Tan Dun - a traditional Chinese song about separation.

On view until April 5 in New York, the rug is included in the MAD exhibition ‘New Territories: Laboratories of Art and Design in Latin America‘.

For more information visit taipingcarpets.com

About the manufacturer: Meaning "Great Peace" in China, Tai Ping Carpets came to life in 1956 as a handmade carpet company that specialized in custom-carpet designs. They own and operate everything from their own factories to design ateliers and showrooms, offering a brand that is looked to for the highest quality and most exquisite offerings for the home, office, jet, yacht, and hospitality sector.