Nani Marquina History:

Click here to view the Nani Marquina rug collection.

The history of Nani Marquina (nanimarquina):

Did you know?
We can custom make any Nani Marquina rug to meet your exact size requirements.
Please contact us if you need more information.

Nani was born in Barcelona Spain on 17th November 1952. If she could be born again, she would be a fireman (something she has wanted to be since childhood). Her emotional energy makes it clear that her sign of the zodiac is Scorpio and her favourite number is 9. If she could travel tomorrow, she would escape to the Sahara desert, because she finds it very relaxing. She loves to take refuge at La Font Viva, a small mountain lake in the French Pyrenees which she often visits. She likes paella and tomatoes very much. If she had to choose one of her rugs, it would be Cuadros, because it marks a before and after in her catalogue. She hates injustice and adores travelling and swimming, so much so that one of the things she likes best is water. She says of herself: I like to take on challenges and risks and I do it with optimism. I am very intuitive, but my emotions betray me and I am never satisfied enough with results.

Nani Marquina founded her company nanimarquina in 1987. Nani Marquina specialized in the production of contemporary and modern rugs made with 100& New Zealand Wool. The rugs are manufactured in India and carry the "Care & Fair label", an organisation that since 1995 acts against child labor. During the last twenty years this Barcelonian has been one of the worldwide ambassadors of design from Spain. Nani Marquina is the president of the Association of Professional Designers in Spain. She also won the coveted National Design Award in 2005 and she received the National Culture Award of the Catalan Government. The proceeds of this award will be used towards the funding of a new school in India.

Some notable modern rugs created by Nani Marquina include: Black on White Manuscrit Modern Rug by Joaquim Ruiz Millet, Flying Carpet Rug by Nani Marquina, Little Field of Flowers Contemporary Rug by Nani Marquina, Roses Rug by Nani Marquina, Seagrass Rug by Nani Marquina, Sybilla Mosaico Rug by Nani Marquina, Topissimo Rug by Nani Marquina and Cuks Rug by Nani Marquina which continues to be Nani's favorite.

About Nani Marquina and their commitment to the "Care & Fair label". Almost all Nanimarquina rugs are made from natural materials such as wool or jute, which makes them 100% biodegradable. Nani Marquina produces her rugs with the "Care & Fair label", an organization that since 1995 acts against child labor. This no-governmental registered trust was founded in 1995 in Bhadhoi, North India, with the main purpose of eradication of child labor in the textile and carpet industry. Care & fair works on the philosophy that if the right health and educational facilities are provided to his area, its objectives could be achieved. With this in mind Care & Fair set about setting up schools and health care centers in the carpet belt area. All carpets made in India also bear the label of KALEEN, issued by the council of India to guarantee again that no child labor was employed. Nani Marquina has a close connection to their manufacturers in India

Recent projects by Nani Marquina include the renovation of the Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room at the UN (United Nations) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Under the giant dome by Mallorcan painter Miquel Barcelo, 600 m2 of Nani Marquina carpets furnish the room, warming and soundproofing its walls. Given the size of the project, 80 different carpets were produced with 100% wool from New Zealand, and in raw colors to contrast with the vivacity and abundance of color in the dome. The design is continuous with Miquel Barcelo’s work, playing with volume to emulate drops that fall from the roof’s stalactites. To obtain the highest quality, the carpets were made in India using the hand knotting technique (70,000 knots/m2). This allows the rugs to display a high definition of shapes, forms and outlines. The project began in July 2007, by request of both the artist himself, and architect Toni Esteva. Nani Marquina's big challenge was to capture the essence of the artist's work in order to adapt it to the carpets. In only 2 months time, Nani Marquina's design and production team produced the first model. Once the prototype was approved, they worked on the design for all the walls and made a working plan for the project. In October 2008, the mounting of the rugs on the walls began, which lasted 2 weeks. Nani Marquina wants to share this project with all of you, since it can educated people about the possibilities of Nani Marquina's tailored service for special projects.

A recent show where Nani Marquina rugs have been displayed was Ron Arad's No Discipline exhibition at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris France. This exhibition is dedicated to the work of the famous designer and architect Ron Arad. Among the exhibited pieces, the show presents the rug Do Lo Res designed by Ron Arad and produced by nanimarquina, apart from other pieces commercialized by prestigious brands such as Moroso, Vitra, Alessi, Bonaldo, Cassina, Kartell, Kenzo or Magis.

Nani Marquina's rugs have won several awards. In 2007, the Little Field of Flowers carpet, designed by Studio Tord Boontje was nominated for the Delta Prize. Also in 2007, Nani Marquina received the "reddot design award". The jury awarded Little Field Of Flowers, designed by Studio Tord Boontje with the prestigious “Red Dot for Superior Design Quality 2007” prize. The reasons? "Its sophistication and innovative design". At the 2008 Salone Mobile, they were lucky enough to accompany Mr. Tord Boontje as he collected his Elle Deco International Design Award. The award was presented him by the famous magazine in the floor covering category in recognition of his Little Field Of Flowers rug collection.

We invite you to do a little trip around the world through the new collections nanimarquina 2009.

We start from Taiwan, where the artist Michael Lin gives us the opportunity to take home a small bit of his amazing pictorial work with the Formosa collection.

We travel to the Nordic countries to appreciate the borders and flower motifs of Folk, which remind us of the thick woollen pullovers of days gone by. We abandon the warm domestic environment to travel through Spain hand in hand with Cinco and Vora, two sober and simple collections that pay a tribute to colour and material (jute).

We go down to South Africa to be astonished at the fascinating ephemeral murals made by the women of the Besotho tribe on the external walls of their houses, and we transform them into the African house carpet.

We fly to Mexico where NEL colectivo invites us to reflect with Global warming, using the carpet as a communication platform.

We will end our trip where we put down our most recent roots: in India. Designed from the original drawings of pupils from the Care&Fair schools, the Kala collection is an integrating project, through which we will use all the sales of the mentioned carpet to fund a new Care&Fair school in Bhadohi (India).


Nani Marquini Biography:

Nani Marquina was born in Barcelona Spain, 1952. She studied industrial design at the Massana School in Barcelona. In 1974, after a collaboration with the Selles-Marquina Architecture Studio, she opens her own shop, Self-Decor, where she carries out interior decoration projects. In 1984 she presents her first creations in prints and rugs for different textile design companies and, the same year, receives her first award for the Dama rug. This rug receives a nomination at the Delta Awards for industrial design. Creating the nanimarquina brand in 1986, she launches her company specialized in the design and edition of modern textile articles for the home, placing a particular focus on contemporary and modern rug design. In 1987 she develops and introduces her collection to the market. In 1989 New York’s MOMA shop choose to feature her Begonia collection. In 1990 the Pera collection receives a nomination at the Delta Awards. Her modern rugs are included in a number of diverse collective design exhibitions some of which include: Primavera del Disseny (International Design Festival Barcelona); Women Made (Women in Design) Catalonia and Balearic Islands; Pasion. Diseno Espanol, Berlin, Wien, Salamanca; Arte=Diseno=Arte, Zaragoza; Objectar, Barcelona; 100Catalan Design, Berlin, New York, Moscow. In 2003 nanimarquina obtains the IDQ award for product quality; the Topissimo collection obtains the Red Dot Design Award and a nomination at the Delta Awards; in the same year Cuks collection receives a special mention of the Delta Awards' Jury. In 2004 the Topissimo collection obtains the Good Design Award, by the Chicago Atheneum Museum and the Certificat d´Excellence for the Best Product at the SIDIM Montreal Fair. In 2005 the Bicicleta rug collection obtains the selection certificate at the Adi-Fad Delta Awards. In 2006 she is awarded with the Premio FIDEM a la Mujer Emprendedora 2006 (FIDEM Award to the Businesswoman 2006), the Premi Cambra a la Gestio del Disseny 2005 (Chamber Award of Design Management) and the National Design Award 2005. Since 2006 (Super) Nani is President of ADP (Professional Designers Association).