As a child growing up in Germany and spending hours after school helping out in his father’s rug business, Bijan Koukpari had a natural interest in design. As he puts it, “I think I just absorbed the business.” That early involvement combined with an interest in architecture and development ultimately led to the founding of Satia Art and Floor in Vancouver, Canada. Founding a company that made one-of-a-kind hand knotted carpets from Nepal was a natural fit. Natural, too, was his decision to collaborate with RugMark. “I have the belief the world can change with education.” Koukpari explains. “Wherever there’s education, people develop, and RugMark is investing in children by putting them in schools.”

 His own education in the rug business in both Germany and Canada took him deeper into the study of natural products and the intricacies of dyes and color. Today Satia Art and Floor creates rugs in more than 130 colors. “It’s a big challenge to produce just the right color,” Koukpari says, but it is that subtle difference of each dye pot that is exactly one of the factors that makes each rug unique. Using mohairs, silks and wools, he constantly innovates and enjoys creating unusual textures. Though he laughingly acknowledges he may have been more emotionally involved with his designs when he was younger, he says he still responds deeply to a unique and texturally luxurious rug. “I have a deep respect for natural products and for the complexities of the design.”

Satia Art and Floor rugs are in public and private spaces from Alberta to Australia. Three components, Koukpari explains, make customers happy—uniqueness, quality and design.” And he continues, “People like a story about the carpet.” Part of the story of Satia rugs is that they are made without the use of child labor, and that is important to Bijan Koukpari. “I’m a creative person and creative people are against destruction. If people are living in misery, that is worrisome. RugMark is a way to improve that condition.”

 Find out more about Satia Art and Floor at www.satia.com.

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