OUR LATEST CARPET ADVENTURES IN MEXICO CITY

Our most recent project reveal comes from Mexico City where we collaborated with Chapi Chapo Design on some amazing floorcoverings for the presidential suites, guestrooms, corridors and ballroom for the new Ritz-Carlton hotel. Creative Matters Managing Partner Ana Cunningham managed the process which started in 2017 and ended with a successful installation in the summer of 2021.

The 153-room hotel is part of a 50-storey skyscraper that also holds residential units centrally located in the metropolis across from Chapultepec Park. Chapi Chapo Design's modern interior design rejects colonial influence and traditional forms of Mexican art and design, instead favouring the fascinating storytelling and folklore that are strongly embedded in Mexican Culture. At the outset of the project, Chapi Chapo Design outlined to us the direct correlation between the luxurious finishes and the rich heritage and ancient traditions such as the use of smoke to cleanse the body and mind.

For the presidential suite rug in the photo at the top of this post, Chapi Chapo Design provided the design and Creative Matters brought it to life by carefully interpreting the subtle colour blends and transforming it into the proper format for the mill. Based on abstract landscapes and the water’s edge, the rug was impeccably handtufted in wool at our mill in Thailand. There are painterly dots for subtle texture and the design mimics Mexican embroidery, a traditional craft in Mexico. “The field is a velvety cut pile and the raised details are also in cut pile with some lower loop pile in the dots,” said Ana.

An exquisite rug for one of the presidential suites.

The teal and ochre presidential suite rug above is similarly based on abstract landscapes and the water’s edge. The complementary textures feature a velvety cut pile for the field along with raised lineal details in a two-toned blend again evoking embroidery. Elements of sheen were created with Prism Nylon.

Ana called on the talents of a number of Creative Matters designers including: Madeleine Baigent, Kayla Bortolotto, Anna Panosyan and Kat Pezzano. “It took several teams to realize the success of this project, I am grateful to have worked with so many talented people along the way,” said Ana.

The corridor carpet design was adapted for each of the ten floors.

For the ten floors of corridor carpet, Chapi Chapo Design created the narrative and design, inspired by traditional sacred smoke rituals and how they cleanse the body and mind. “Note how the elegant movement from one shape to the next carries you down the corridor,” said Ana adding that textures and blends were handled so beautifully in this interpretation. As guest traffic demands, the carpet was made in the woven Axminster method of construction - 7 pitch, 10 row, 40 oz - with a hint of shiny nylon for sheen.

Creative Matters technical layout indicating where seams in the carpet could be hidden without interfering with the design.

“A critical technicality with this floorcovering was how to handle the seams because the corridors are angled,” said Ana. “We solved this by ensuring any areas where seaming was required did not include design details, only the blended field. Handled this way, the seams are truly hidden. Because every floor is different, we carefully modified the design to achieve a perfectly tailored fit for each one.”

Intricate use of cut and raised pile adds dynamic dimension to the guest room rug.

The area rug for the 97 guest rooms again plays off the ancient smoke ritual with smoky elements swirling elegantly within an oval-shaped design. The background is in loop pile while some of the design details in the foreground were intricately crafted in raised cut pile. “You can really see the sheen in this one because we used touches of Prism Nylon to enhance the wool,” said Ana.

The design for the ballroom is a contemporary geometric.

For the ballroom carpet, Chapi Chapo Design envisaged a comparatively more simplified and structured design that still followed the hotel interior’s subdued palette of dusty blues and smokey ash. We hit the perfect chord with this traditional geometric interpreted in a more contemporary style. As would be expected for a ballroom, the carpet was made in the woven Axminster construction in wool with a hint of shiny nylon for sheen.

Ana made multiple visits to the site in Mexico City during the planning stages but when it came to installation - because of the pandemic - she had to supervise it over a video call. Nevertheless perfection was achieved and everyone agrees the interior design with the floorcoverings is a great success!

See more of the Ritz-Carlton interior design in this Architectural Digest video.

Note: These floorcovering designs and photos are exclusive to Chapi Chapo Design for Ritz-Carlton.