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Designers’ Collection by Ami Katz

Ami is partner at the Stockholm based architectural firm 3dO Architects. She has worked as a guest professor at Royal Institure of Technology – Architectural department. Ami has designed rug collections as well as bespoke rugs for Kasthall. In her work as a designer Ami has gotten various prices for her vase ” Fanny” by KLONG. 3dO Architects work in a large spectrum of architecture, interior design and designing and includes project such as the Hotel ”Fjällnäs Pensionat” in the north of Sweden, kindergartens, restaurants and more.

 

For Vandra Rugs Ami Katz has created the wool and wool-felt collection MUNABRIO. The collection is the first time Ami Katz, partner at the Architect firm 3dO in Stockholm, is designing woven rugs. The collection is a result of playfully mixing weaving techniques , ”rya-knots” and wool yarn bouclé combining soft wool fabric with the strict limitations of rag-rug weaving while striving to incorporate organic patterns. The contradictive elements of weft, rya’s and yarn are used in all the rugs.

RETTANGOLO

Rettangolo was created through experimenting with the traditional Swedish röllakan technique. The pixelated pattern and the possibility to use three colours in each row led to the frame. The next step was to complete the rug with long solid coloured rectangles for a calmer impression. In order to tie these elements together and add another technique, stripes of linen rya came to complete the design. The frame, the rectangles and the stripes have an intentionally neutral colour way; brown, black and white so that the colour of Rettangolo may easily be changed by altering the base colour.

SPALJE ORIGINAL

This rug is a further development of Frammento. Ami Katz wanted to create a less romantic version and chose to work with a two-parted dark base woven in wool yarn behind a stylized, somewhat rough, trellis motif. The circles and simplified plants are placed on top of this strict base and are done in flossa technique, emphasizing the shaggy and rough look.

SPALJÉ PRIMO

Spaljé Primo has the same base as Spaljé original but by letting the colour of the linen yarn warp vary, the designer instead lets them form a striped base. The botanic pattern is reduced to circles and only flatwoven wool yarn is used in this version, allowing it to be used under for example a dining table.

CATENA CUCINA

Cucina means kitchen in italian and the first version of this version of Catena was designed to be placed under a kitchen table. By adding a grid pattern of think stripes, inspired by traditional kitchen towels, the rug appeared more casual than the original. Depending on which of the colourways chosen, the rug can appear more modern and playful or folkloristic with roots in the Scandinavian craft tradition.

PIETRA

Pietra is a new design, inspired by the legendary Malmsten shop in Stockholm. The challenge was to design a rug that would meet the collection offered in the shop; even though it is today a more extensive collection it is still firmly rooted in its heritage. Ami Katz studied rugs and textiles from the historic archives in search of a grammar that could be applied on a new rug collection. She found examples of both skilled artistic quality and craftsmanship, symmetry, chequered and striped as well as small scale patterns and natural colours.

The design Pietra is based on a symmetrical chequered pattern which is complicated by deleting chosen lines so that the original squares become intact, half or several multiples of the original. The small scale is found in the graphic lines surrounding each square. All rugs in the collection have these in black and white as a graphic element elevate most interiors. The colourways a natural even if somewhat stronger hue than its predecessors. The patterns and colours have been carefully selected to suit both the heritage of the Malmsten shop and an entirely contemporary setting. The collection consists of several colourways offered in exclusive knotted pile, suited for a sitting area or the röllakan version more suitable for dining areas or more highly trafficked spaces. Ami Katz hopes the design can work bringing together old and new in interiors.

ARROW

The classic zig zag pattern can be varied in an almost endless way. If you vary the angle and width of the lines, the distance between them, the scale of the pattern and the number of colours you create very different expressions. The inspiration came from the desire to experiment with a common, repetitive pattern. Ami Katz has selected a relatively sharp angle, the same distance between stripe and the gap and a large scale repeat. The idea being that the colour combinations is what adds interest to the rug. There are around ten combinations already created but bespoke combinations are offered as well.

Ă…rstiderna/Seasons no 3 tapestry by Ami Katz for Vandra Rugs 2022

The origin of Årstiderna/Seasons no 3 is a collection of watercolours with the varying palette of the seasons as source of inspiration. Parts of Ami Katz’ sketches have previously been interpreted for tufted rugs, but the insight of the weaving skill and level of craftsmanship in the Vandra Rugs atelier opened up the possibility to interpret these paintings and use the images.

The idea is, this far, that none of the Ă…rstiderna/Season tapestries shall be entirely as another and that Ami, with the water colours as starting points and in close cooperation with the weavers, develops enthralling and decorative designs adjusted to specific projects/objects.

The creative process behind Årstiderna/Seasons no 3 was initiated during the pandemic and the tapestry is in many ways interconnected with its time. The trip to the outstanding place at which the tapestry is now placed was not without difficulties, considering the circumstances at the time. Then, when the tapestry after many hours of work and adjustments to perfect it for its placement was sent to the weaving atelier, Russia invaded Ukraine and occupied the territory in which the weaving atelier was located. There was war. Weavers, looms and wool yarns were, after months of worry and fear, evacuated and the tapestry was eventually produced in the weaving atelier’s new premises in Kosiv, Ukraine.

GRAZIA by Ami Katz

The rug GRAZIA is a woolfelt rug with effects in woolyarn and woolfelt. The rug came about in AMI KATZ preferred fashion. An engaged and interested client with a specific interior in mind with specific set color ways and limitations in size makes the creative process easier. Resulting in a playful summery rug with a both dark and light part with careful accents in soft pink as well as dark burgundy. Grazia is made of a mix of techniques from woolragrug of effects creating the circles to woolyarn in bouclé. Design by Ami Katz.

FRAMMENTO

Fragments and drawings have always fascinated me. There is something appealing in what is unfinished. Therefore an embroidery that was started but not finished and an old half finished drawing became the starting point for the creation of the rug, Frammento.

The insight of the extraordinary skills of the weaving atelier and the endless possibilities that these skills allow, further inspired me. In Frammento many layers work together. The warp changes colour from white, to natural, to brown creating a base of three blocks of stripes in various shades of white. The actual pattern also changes, beginning with a complete pattern in turquoise, green and brown on one side of the rug and gradually fading out the further to other side you look.

The circular segments, adjusted into the different colour segments of the warp, are made up by distinct bouclé dots in the parts where the pattern is complete and more sketch-like, as if they were pencilled in, in the sketchier parts.
The turquoise pattern, and the parts in between, co-vary with the circles and are alternately woven in wool felt rags and wool yarn to give the surfaces texture and colour variations. All of these factors contribute to enforcing the sketchy expression.

FRAMMENTO Folkloric

Sketches and drawings have always fascinated me. There is something appealing in what is unfinished. Therefore an embroidery that was started but not finished and an old half finished drawing became the starting point for the creation of the rug, Frammento.
The insight of the extraordinary skills of the weaving atelier and the endless possibilities that these skills allow, further inspired me. In Frammento many layers work together.The woolfelt  base with three blocks of stripes in soft shades of green, cream and aqua. The actual pattern also changes, beginning with a complete pattern in aqua, on one side of the rug and gradually fading out the further to other side you look.
The circular segments, adjusted into the different colour segments of the warp, are made up by distinct bouclé dots in the parts where the pattern is complete and more sketch-like, as if they were pencilled in, in the sketchier parts.
The aqua pattern, and the parts in between, co-vary with the circles and are alternately woven with effects in wool felt rags and wool yarn to give the surfaces texture and colour variations. All of these factors contribute to enforcing the sketchy expression

PEONIA

As often in Ami Katz designs, PEONIA consists of an organic structure on a graphic base. The combination gives the rug both a strict and romantic expression. The base is black, brown and white like the ground; wet soil, peat and snow while the pattern in wool yarn bouclé leands it colours from peonies and other white flowers.

PIANO

Choose PIANO for the interior to which you want a neutral rug, with few colours, or for a room that needs a rug with one light and one dark side. The idea is that the colour blocks balance each other, enabling you to alter the colours to suit your interior. For larger sizes, more colour blocks are added to the original three.

CATENA

CATENA is a Designer’ cotton rug. The composition is built up in color blocks appearing to overlap each other, forming a stylistic chain. Again, aiming to disturb the inherent striped design of a woven rug. the pattern is strict and geometric. The colors are warm earthy tones with a touch of pink and cognac.

CATENA WOOL

The composition in CATENA WOOL is built up in color blocks appearing to overlap each other, forming a stylistic chain. Again, aiming to disturb the inherent striped design of a woven rug. The pattern is strict and geometric. The colors of emerald, amethyst and gold are rich and muted at the same time.

NEW COLOUR COMBINATIONS OF CATENA WOOL

MINERVA

MINERVA came about in AMI KATZ preferred fashion. An engaged and interested client with a specific interior in mind with specific set color ways and limitations in size makes the creative process easier. Resulting in a playful summery rug with a both dark and light part with  careful accents in soft as well as dark heather.

LORO

LORO is a wool rug built up by layers of geometrical forms. The LORO rug is handwoven in flatweave in a very large diamond-twill pattern. By changing colour in he weft, wool felt stripes in dark greygreen and white are created. Interlinked circles in orange and pink made of wool-felt ”ryas” are added on top creating new patterns. The ”ryas” can be exchanged to stitching. Space that is created by the ”rya/ stitching circles” have been filled in with green yarn bouclé in an ad-hoc manner. The contrast between the organic and the structured is apparent . The mind travels to gardens with rose-beds, paths and lawns organized in a strict manner. If the version with the circular pattern in stitches is chosen, the look of the rug can be changed depending on which color is used.

LORO 2017

LORO 2017 is a Designers’ wool rug in soft, muted colors built up by layers of geometrical forms. The delicate circles, stiched in cognac and light pink, are partly filled in with hand tufted wool fields, creating a playfulness to the otherwise strict design. Design by Ami Katz.

LORO 2018

To use the same pattern in different color ways is for Ami Katz a test to how good and well balanced a design is. The original LORO is colorful with full of contrast. The idea behind the original pattern was that one through mixing of materials, to the striped dark green and white base, add elements of organic form via circles of orange rya and parts filled with green wool yarn boucle. In LORO 2018 the colors of the base and in the circles are closer, forming a softer look. We are many that appreciate a more quiet interior avoiding too much color or pattern. Ami Katz  intention is in LORO 2018 to show that many colors combined can translate into calm. As always in her work Ami Katz starting point is a favorite color. Here a goldengreenishbeige the combines with shades of warm whites and greybeige. Thus Loro 2018 and the original LORO are two completely different rugs sharing the same basic pattern.

New Colour Combinations of LORO

LORO rug is also available in four additional colouways with ”ryas” or stitching: Dark green/white weft, light green bouclé with purple ryas; Light blue/cream weft with grey boucle and purple stitching; Burgundy/white weft with lightfreen boucle and turquoise stitching and Petroleum blue and white weft with apple green boucle and blue stitching . The LORO rug is available in size 250*300cm. However as always with Vandra Rugs, bespoke color combinations and sizes tailored to your needs are available upon request.

STORIA

Designers’ Collection STORIA, or fairy tale, is composed with a two-part base with a diffuse reflective circle. It resembles how the moon reflects in water. Inside the circle, we find stones, or maybe clouds. Designer Ami Katz says she was inspired by Japanese stories’ illustrations. Playful, simple and yet secretive.

POTAGER

The rug “POTAGER” is the first rug in the Ami Katz collection for Vandra Rugs. Inspired by the straight rows of plants in vegetable gardens as well as the structure and the composition of flowerbeds, the rug ”POTAGER” is divided into fields and colours. The base of the rug consists of three distinct colour fields where two different weaving techniques in different sizes have been used. Ami has then counter-set the wefts horizontal pattern by in places exchanging linen yarn with wool fabric and by adding and using rya-knots to create three dimensionality , achieving a look of mouth-watering fields, colours, forms and patterns rather than sterile stripes.

CLESSIDRA

The rug “CLESSIDRA” is the second rug in the Ami Katz collection ”Manubrio” for Vandra Rugs. The contradiction between the strict, flat weft and the organic soft higher yarn bouclé is apparent and typical for Mrs Katz work. The “CLESSIDRA” colour scheme reflects the summers in the Swedish archipelago or by the beach. There is sand, rocks and nordic seas. It is traditional classical craftsmanship, but in new design.

PACE

The rug PACE is the first wool yarn rug in the Ami Katz collection for Vandra Rugs. Mrs Katz is here inspired by the folkloristic tradition of using a multitude of weaving techniques within one rug. In combination with the accurate but daring use of color combinations the result is contemporary playful yet classic chic.

CORNICI COTTON 

Cornici is Ami Katz first cotton rug collection for Vandra Rugs. CORNICI is Italian for ”frames” and consists of rectangular two-colored doubleweave rugs with irregular squares. The Basic collection is made up of natural colors along with a unexpected orange/pink version. However as always with Vandra Rugs bespoke color combinations and sizes tailored to your needs are available upon request.

CORNICI WOOL

CORNICI is Italian for ”frames” and consists of two-colored doubleweave rugs with irregular squares. The CORNICI rugs are made both in cotton and in wool yarn. The wool yarn CORNICI rug is made out of non-dyed hand-spun woolyarn from the sheep in the Carpathian mountains. The CORNICI rug shown to the right is made out of a darkgrey mix of colors 05,14, and 7878 along with off white color 06 on natural linen yarn. CORNICI can be ordered in sizes 100*300cm, 200*450cm, 200*300cm, 300*400cm and 400*450cm. However as always with Vandra Rugs bespoke color combinations and sizes tailored to your needs are available upon request.

See Cornici in cotton