MATERIAL ARQUITECTURA

Andes in Bloom

Andes in Bloom is a collective textile work inspired by Ecuadorian flora. The piece takes as its starting point the outline of the territory traced by Alexander von Humboldt during his journey through Ecuador. This historical and scientific contour becomes the framework of the work, filled with a composition of native flowers reinterpreted by different Ecuadorian artists. The piece is composed of ten individual fragments assembled like a puzzle, revealing the strength of Ecuadorian design and its biodiversity.

The piece was created in Guano, in the province of Chimborazo, using the ancestral hand-knotting technique known as the round knot. Total dimensions: 1.86 m x 2.36 m. Density: 40,000 knots per m². Material: sheep wool from Chimborazo, dyed with locally sourced natural pigments. Today, only 11 artisans continue to practice this technique in Guano. Andes in Bloom is part of an ongoing effort to document, update, and project this intangible heritage internationally.

The Andes in Bloom project was conceived as a celebration of Ecuadorian collaboration. Just as the piece represents the diversity of flora from different regions of Ecuador, its creation was also envisioned as a deeply collective process. Artists illustrated the various flowers that compose the work, capturing the botanical richness of the territory; designers developed the overall composition, color palette, and the translation of the illustrations into a pixel-based system suitable for weaving; and finally, artisans transformed this language into material, weaving the work into ten distinct pieces. The result is a fusion of art, design, and craft, where each discipline contributes its knowledge to shape a piece that reflects both the natural diversity and cultural richness of Ecuador.

studio link: www.materia-arquitectura.com