Hospitality Design - June 2013 - 55

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nani marquina
By Ashleigh VanHouten
Photography courtesy of nanimarquina

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CALLED ON THE CARPET

1. The Shakespeare in
Africa rug is a
highlight of Marquina’s
collaboration with
graphic designer
Milton Glaser.

One rug designer takes contemporary Spanish
design global

Spanish textile and rug designer Nani
Marquina had a passion for creative design
from a young age. “When I was little, design
was already a big part of my home life,”
she says. “My father was one of the first
industrial designers in Spain. When he
came home with his new designs, I was
totally captivated.” Still, she says, designing
carpets wasn’t a decision that was made
overnight. “I started out by designing prints
for interiors and discovered there was a gap
when it came to rugs with contemporary
designs. So I studied industrial design at
Escola Massana in Barcelona; back then it
wasn’t a very popular degree, especially
for girls.”
Starting her own company in 1987 wasn’t
easy—as a businesswoman and a designer
forging new territory. “At the time, design
was in its infancy in Spain and designing
rugs was very complicated,” she explains.

“The first collection I designed consisted of
three rugs—Manhattan, N, and Centro—and
they were the first rugs with a contemporary
design in Spain.” In 1993, Marquina moved
the company’s manufacturing facilities
to northern India, where she was able to
incorporate authentic craft methods into her
growing business.
Nanimarquina studio lives in a light
and airy space in the Gràcia neighborhood
of Barcelona. Her team of about 25 people
is mostly women, and she says there’s a
“family feel” to the working environment.
“The whole company experiences the entire
process, from the conception of an idea to
its materialization and final destination,”
she says. Among her team’s most recent
hospitality projects are bright, amorphousshaped rugs in the Mashpi Lodge in
Ecuador, and Do-Lo-Rez, a rug-and-sofa
combination inspired by low-resolution

3. Delrosso’s “Dining
Tank” installation for
DIFFA’s 2013 Dining By
Design event.

2. Do-Lo-Rez, a rug and
and sofa combination,
brightens the Pantone
Hotel in Belgium.

3. Deeply hued,
amorphous-shaped rugs
dot the Mashpi Lodge in
Ecuador.

pixelated images in the Pantone Hotel
in Belgium.
This year, Nanimarquina is presenting
two new rug collections, including a
collaboration with U.S. graphic designer
Milton Glaser—one of the highlights is
a layered piece called Shakespeare in
Africa—which Marquina says is “Milton’s
style transferred to a rug; this one will really
surprise everyone.” Even Marquina herself
seems to be surprised with the design
process her work often takes. “Usually, the
ideas just emerge without warning,” she
admits. “I’m someone who always has my
eyes wide open, and any little detail I see
during the day can inspire a new design.” hd
nani m arqui na.com

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