RUCKSTUHL tufts Switzerland in wool

The carpet manufacturer RUCKSTUHL from Langenthal in the Swiss canton of Bern and the German design duo Guido Metz and Michael Kindler have created a rug depicting Switzerland in wool. RUCKSTUHL explains in a press release that La Suisse en Laine is tufted from the wool of the Valais blacknose sheep from the region of Zermatt/Oberwallis in the canton of Valais. It goes on to state that all of the manufacturing steps were performed in Switzerland, from sheep pasture and shearing to creation of the rug.

The tufting process is performed by RUCKSTUHL’s tufting robot. It is fed CAD data that divides Switzerland into eight different altitude levels. CEO of RUCKSTUHL Adrian Berchtold commented in the press release: “When you consider that each and every strand must be stitched into the support fabric in exactly the right position and at the right level, the extent of the technical complexity becomes clear.”

La Suisse en Laine will be presented for the first time at the Swiss Design Classics exhibition in China to celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The rug is “already a good example of a Swiss design classic” according to the exhibition curator, Christian Herren. From its starting point at the Today Art Museum in Beijing, the event will travel across China next year.

La Suisse en Laine was designed in relief in the natural color of wool for the exhibition. For customers, RUCKSTUHL can introduce individually colored elements as desired, for example reproducing the locations and transport routes of their companies in the wall hanging. ce/hs