Haptic Lab: Custom quilts with cartographical clout

Exquisite heirlooms from a Brooklyn design collective

In an increasingly digitised world, the customised quilts handmade by Brooklyn-based Haptic Lab are a breath of fresh air. Founded by architect-turned-artist Emily Fischer, the design collective specialises in soft maps that serve as decorative objects and coverlets. “Quilts are between art and design,” explains Fischer. “They are craft pieces with a specific function, but they are also narrative heirlooms that can be displayed as art.”

Her creations – many of which are commissioned as wedding or anniversary gifts – have “an intrinsic emotional gravity to them,” says Fischer. She takes delight in working with a broad client base that comes to her with geographies and ideas as wide-ranging as an archipelago from a scientific expedition, to a ski-trail map from Telluride (first and second pictures), to a starry night sky. She then translates these personal places into one of her bespoke cotton and silk quilts that generally take three to four months to complete, and cost from $3,600.

Fischer’s understated aesthetic – and her love of a good city grid – is evident in such commissions as a monochromatic plan de Paris that features arrondissements, and a stark white map of lower Manhattan that was ordered by one New York couple to christen a new flat. A queen-size coverlet, featuring the rugged Nova Scotia coastline, is another example of Fischer’s ability to create a highly individualised narrative using embroidery. Quilts can be further customised by weight and are filled with cotton or wool wadding according to a client’s preference.

In addition to commissions, Haptic Lab also offers a selection of ready-made quilts of over 20 US and European cities ($450) that can be embroidered with personal details – a specific street or topographical feature, for example, can be highlighted, with initials or messages added – at no extra charge. The word “haptic” is derived from the Greek word to touch, and Fischer hopes that her creations “will be used today and also last for generations. I hope these quilts will find a home in the life of a family for at least the next 200 years.”