Herding wool / Alix Arto, Emma Casella & Yihan Zhang
Herding wool, focus on felt
Emma Casella
Alix Szijártó
Yihan Zhang
• Emma Casella: 80% Independent designer; 20% substitute teacher, Lugano • Alix Szijártó: 100% Independent designer, Marseille (FR)/Vevey
• Yihan Zhang: 100% Design manager & researcher for Róng Design Library and Pinwu studio, Hangzhou (CN)
• Emma Casella: Bachelor, Industrial and product design, ECAL, Lausanne, 2022; CFC Graphism, CSIA Lugano, 2018
• Alix Szijártó: Bachelor, Industrial and product design, ECAL, Lausanne, 2017 • Yihan Zhang: MAS Design for Luxury and Craftmanship, ECAL, Lausanne, 2017; Master Industrial Design, SCUOLA POLITECNICA DI DESIGN (SPD), Milano (IT), 2014; Bachelor, Industrial Design, HUAQIAO University, Xiamen, (CN), 2013
Herding wool, focus on felt
2025
China/Switzerland
Personal, Research
Supported by Pro Helvetia
Alice Monguzzi, Paris, FR, Róng Design Library, 浙江杭州市 (Hangzhou), CN Prohelvetia, Zurich & Shanghai, CH & CN Pinwu Studio, 浙江杭州市 (Hangzhou), CN Blaise Hofmann, Reverolle, CH དབྲ་ཁྱུང་དཔལ་བཟང་། (TACHUN PHASANG), མཛོད་དགེ་རྫོང་། (Maixi Township), CN 王五之 (WANG WUZHI), Sanjiangyuan region, CN Urs Heinz, Sufers, CH 赵远崇 (ZHAO YUANCHONG), 云南昭通巧家县 (Qiaojia), CN ལྷ་མོ། (Lhamo), མོ་གྲོང་ཞང (Mozong), CN Silvio Guarneri, Niederönz, CH རམ་མཆོག (RABCHU), རྐ་ཁོག་ (Hongyuan County), CN DAVID HENGUELY & Pascal Eiguiser, Vaud, CH Nicola Toscano, Ticino & Grabünden, Ch DANIEL WISMER, Embd, CH ࿐བློ་བྷེ , རྐ་ཁོག་ (Hongyuan County), CN 蒋姐 (JIANG), 浙江杭州余杭区黄湖镇 (Huanghu), CN 王大哥 (WANG), 内蒙古乌兰察布 (Ulanqab), CN MAUDE AND VINCENT WEISSHAUPT, Les Hauts-Geneveys, CN WYSSENBACH FAMILY, Chermignon d’en-Haut, CN 尼玛汪堆 (Nyima Wangdu) and 七里品楚 (Qi ling ping chu), 子尼 (Zini), CN ཡེ་ཤེས། (TSEYANG YESHI), རྐ་ཁོག་ (Hongyuan County), CN Rosula Blanc, La Giette, CH Martine Gerber, Les Plans-sur-Bex, CH FISSCO & FISOLAN, Enggistein, CH 廖老师 (LI LIAO), 喜德县 (Xide), CN SPYCHER HANDWERK, Schwarzenbach, CH ATELIER Laines d’Europe, Saint-Chaffrey, FR ProVerzasca, Sonogno, CH WOOL-TI Project, Sonogno, CH Laines d’Ici, Cernier, CH Proconseil, Lausanne, CH Filature de l’Avançon, Plans-sur-Bex, CH Wollspinnerei Vetsch, Pragg-Jenaz, CH 喜德县指尖造物工贸有限公司 Felt Factory, 喜德县 (Xide), CN Walter Aigner, Vorarlberg, AUT 彭德华 Peng Dehua, རྐ་ཁོག་ (Hongyuan County), CN Stephanie Bunn, St Andrews, SCO Jorie Johnson, Kyoto, JP 杨雄标 (YANG XIAONGBIAO), 云南大理喜洲金圭寺村 (Jinguisi Village), CN 杨海军 (Yang Haijun), 四川绵阳平武县白马乡 (Baima Village), CN fiwo, Amriswil, CH Johanna Rösti, Heimberg, CH Wiler Filz, Münchwilen, CH 阿尼 (Ani), རྐ་ཁོག་ (Hongyuan County), CN 邢振 (Xing Zhen), 浙江省杭州市（Hangzhou City), CN གནམ་གྱི་ཕྱེད་ཀ (Nanjee Saiga), མོ་གྲོང་ཞང (Mozong), CN 北方牧人 (Shangdrok), རྐ་ཁོག་ (Hongyuan County, CN Natura Handwerk, Uebeschi, CH 麦溪乡草原生态种植农民合作社 (Maixi Township Grassland Ecological Planting Farmers Cooperative), 四川阿坝若尔盖县麦溪乡 (Maixi Village), CN Saikal Zhunushova, Lausanne, CH Sophie Fellay, Rivaz, CH
47 data-base boards, ~ 10-15 printed photos, 1 book, 1 piedestal with light, 2 hats, industrial felt pieces, 2 wooden tools
32 × 22 × 1 cm, ~A432 × 22 × 1 cm, ~A4 – A2, 16,5 × 24 × 1,5 cm, 100 × 50 × 70 cm, 26 × 26 × 10 cm, 1 – 15 × 1 – 15 × 1 – 5 cm, 20 × 7 × 7 cm – A2, 16,5 × 24 × 1,5 cm, 100 × 50 × 70 cm, 26 × 26 × 10 cm, 1 – 15 × 1 – 15 × 1 – 5 cm, 20 × 7 × 7 cm
Felt, cardboard, paper, wood, LED
To explore the full potential of wool felting, Swiss designers Alix Arto and Emma Casella have partnered with Chinese designer Yihan Zhang from Róng Design Library. Examining the anthropological significance of animal fibres, the project celebrates felting as a bridge between tradition and innovation while blending local cultures with international techniques and regional materials. Collaborating with shepherds, fibre processors and craftspeople, the project also addresses the undervaluation of diverse wool breeds through a felt database, while highlighting the material’s sustainable qualities. Drawing on their collective expertise, the three designers share a commitment to meaningful and sustainable practices. The outcome bridges material exploration with public engagement through an exhibition platform and publication that summarises the meetings and exchanges throughout this journey and translates these findings into accessible narratives.
