ROLE
Creative Director – Concept Development, Design, Oversee Production
AGENCY
Invisible North
THE GAIA GALLERY
New York, USA - 2025
To celebrate the global debut of the GAIA collection, the sustainable and Australian luxury rug company Armadillo took over an empty space in New York City's Soho neighborhood and transformed it into an immersive art gallery. In collaboration with multidisciplinary artist Carla Cascales Alimbau, the Gallery showcased values of craft, intention, and the beauty of imperfection. The centerpiece—a striking, oversized yarn installation—invited visitors into a meditative space complemented by Chiaroscuro, a film exploring the creative journeys of both Armadillo and Cascales Alimbau. Designed to evoke curiosity, awe, and reflection, the pop-up offered guests a meaningful connection to the brand’s artistry and ethos.
In addition to an out of home campaign throughout the city, a glimpse into the finished gallery was part of the strategy to spark curiosity leading up to the opening.
CURATING THE JOURNEY
Through a thoughtful partnership with Armadillo and Carla Cascales Alimbau, my team and I brought to life a carefully orchestrated display showcasing the Gaia Collection. This included Carla's artwork pieces that served as inspiration for the collection, a large-scale yarn installation, a cinematic experience, and moments that further connected the moving image to the collection. Transporting guests from curiosity through awe, engagement and reflection, the experience ultimately encouraged a lasting emotional connection with the brand.
FLOOR PLAN
RENDERING
SCULPTURAL YARN INSTALLATION
In an effort to highlight craftsmanship, a respect for slowness and the artisanal process, conscious creation, veneration of nature and elevated materiality, we decided to create an impactful centerpiece out of the yarn that is meticulously hand-woven to produce every rug in the collection. As a result, a dramatic yarn sculpture emerged, rising 10 feet high and cascading forward to guide guests into the venue through color, texture, and movement.
CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE
For Oscar-winning cinematographer Greig Fraser, filmmaking is an act of observation – an attempt to capture the fleeting harmony between light, landscape, and the human hand. In Chiaroscuro, Fraser turns his lens toward the making of the GAIA Collection, tracing the tactile rhythm of creation across India, Nepal, Australia, and Spain. Interwoven with scenes of Carla Cascales Alimbau at work and Armadillo's artisans at the loom, the film unfolds as a visual meditation on nature's cycles and the poetry of craft.
To premiere the film, an enclosed screening room was built at the heart of the gallery space, providing guests a moment to pause, reflect, and immerse themselves in the quiet cadence of creation.
On the gallery's opening night the collection was unveiled, accompanied by a piano performance from Marta Cascales Alimbau and the premiere of Chiaroscuro. Guests were invited to slow down, experience these tactile designs as true artworks, and trace the hand of their making. A fitting setting for Armadillo's first artist collaboration, it reimagined the gallery as a place where art could not only be observed, but touched and felt.
© 2025 Adriana Badía