Flow

• Sisal is a natural and renewable raw material.
• Sisal balances the indoor climate as it can absorb up to 420 grams of moisture per m2 (20% of its own weight).
• Sisal has a cooling effect in summer, a warming effect in winter, and is therefore ideally suited for all seasons.
• Sisal is resistant to abrasion.
• Sisal is electrostatically neutral.

• The sisal agave lives for about 7 to 10 years and produces around 200 to 250 usable leaves during this time.
• Only about 4% of a single leaf consists of actual fiber — the rest is mainly water and plant material.
• A sisal plant thrives in regions with temperatures above 25 °C and is considered exceptionally drought-resistant.
• Sisal accounts for about 2% of global plant fiber production.
• Worldwide production was around 210,000 tons of sisal fiber in 2020. The main producers are Brazil, Tanzania, Kenya, and Madagascar.
• Sisal fibers have an exceptionally high tensile strength. Depending on quality, they can reach values of up to 242 MPa, making them some of the strongest natural plant fibers.
• Due to their resistance to tension, abrasion, and saltwater, sisal fibers were used for decades in ship ropes, agricultural twine, and industrial applications.
• Traditional dartboards are still made from sisal fibers today because the surface closes up again after the darts are pulled out.
• Maya and Aztec cultures already used agave fibers for fabrics, sandals, ropes, and everyday objects — long before sisal became a globally traded material in the 19th century.

Workshop designs emerge where material knowledge meets spatial thinking. They express a design culture shaped not primarily by a single author, but by the collective knowledge of our workshop.

Since 1881, Ruckstuhl has developed rugs at the intersection of architecture, craftsmanship and technical innovation. Some products arise from functional requirements, others from a deep understanding of natural fibres, constructions or manufacturing processes. What they share is a precise approach: durable, true to the material and free from short-lived trends.

Ruckstuhl Werkentwurf stands for rugs conceived from within the workshop — developed through experience, refined over time and made for generations.