Toyo Ito and Rafael Moneo Design Silk Carpets for Phillips Auction House


archdaily_Pritzker Prize-winning architects Pritzker Prize-winning architects Toyo Ito and Rafael Moneo

Both architects have presented their vision of the golden ratio in the form of handmade silk carpets. The resulting works displayed the hugely diverse interpretations of the naturally occurring but long studied mathematical proportion which for centuries has regulated and defined the criteria for harmony in art and architecture.

Toyo Ito has often drawn inspiration from the natural world in his work, borrowing organic forms and incorporating them seamlessly into his sleek postmodern approach. This influence forms the basis of the project from which Ito’s unique carpet was based.

Rafael Moneo’s work has been profoundly influenced by history, art and philosophy. Moneo drew from both the description and illustrations of an extract ‘La Pratica della Perspettiva di Monsignor Daniel Barbaro’, the 16th century treatise on perspective by the architect, writer and patron of Andrea Palladio, Daniele Barbaro.
In 2018, Phillips and ARTinD launched Golden Ratio project. Eight visionary architects were tapped to design hand-knotted silk rugs. Ben van Berkel, Peter Eisenman, Norman Foster, Sou Fujimoto, Thom Mayne, Alessandro Mendini, Piero and Nathalie Sartogo, and Peter Zumthor presented the results of their endeavors that differed dramatically, from Foster’s literal—albeit angular—interpretation to Fujimoto’s reductive approach to his subject matter