Dezeen Magazine

Reverence rug collection by Fernando Mastrangelo

Climate change informs rug collection by Fernando Mastrangelo

Breaking ice sheets, evaporating lakes and other phenomena relating to Earth's changing climate have influenced the patterns of these rugs by Brooklyn artist Fernando Mastrangelo.

Reverence rug collection by Fernando Mastrangelo

With titles like Melt and Crash, designs in Mastrangelo's rug collection for Edward Fields reflect the changing physical aspects of nature, like icebergs breaking away or sand blowing in the wind.

The series of Reverence rugs features abstracted natural imagery, taken from landscapes including glaciers and salt flats. The colourful compositions and textures look similar to watercolour paintings.

Reverence rug collection by Fernando Mastrangelo

"From the beginning, I wanted Reverence to articulate the visual language of nature and to convey a sense of wonder and respect for our physical world — all while celebrating the endurance of form and colour," said the artist and designer.

Reverence rug collection by Fernando Mastrangelo

For Break I, stark black lines cut through marbled grey chunks, taking cues from chunks of ice in the ocean that begin to drift apart.

Alongside cooler shades of grey and blue, pops of pinks and purple are seen in some of the designs. For example, in Fracture I, soft pink break ups the otherwise greyscale design, and a yellow-green is used for Silent Waters I to form tan and white "ripples".

Reverence rug collection by Fernando Mastrangelo

Mastrangelo references iconic natural landscapes for his designs, like Yellowstone National Park's travertine terraces and salt flats in Utah.

Reverence rug collection by Fernando Mastrangelo

Variations of silk and wool yarns add to the tactility, and high shag is interspersed with low-pile sections to create ridges and crevices.

In Arena I, a monochrome rug resembles the effect created when water recedes from sand at the beach, leaving thousands of crevices and indentations.

Reverence rug collection by Fernando Mastrangelo

Another rug has an organically-shaped raised grid made of navy ripples atop sky blue, and looks as if water has evaporated quickly from salt flats, leaving a reflective layer on the ground.

Reverence rug collection by Fernando Mastrangelo

The series resembles Mastrangelo's earlier furniture made with colourful gradients to reflect nature. He has also designed Fernando Mastrangelo debuts "butter soft" stark white furniture pieces that launched earlier this year.