Tame the wind

By itself, a single filament is no grand thing. But when various fibres are twisted to form yarn and that yarn is combined with various other strands to form a rope, that weak wisp of fibre becomes strong, functional and flexible, making it a highly versatile object.

Rope, string, thread and cord can bind, bundle or moor. They allow us to sew, to cut or to strum a chord but can also trip us up or entangle something. In the past, rope allowed us to develop shelters, machinery, art, clothing and footwear, and it was an indispensable element for the development of all coastal settlements.

It was the ocean that triggered its full potential. At first, the only means of propulsion were oars and the whims of the marine currents. Ropes came about as a means to join rowing boats, to sew sails, to moor boats and to weave fishing nets.

These ropes transform into ends and these ends developed into knots. An eye-catching maritime mooring system charged with poetry and beauty, where form followed function. An element which tamed the wind. Together with the mast and sail, the rope helped to capture the wind and put it to good use for the sailor’s trade and profit.

To lace, to secure, to tie… more than 3,500 definitions, both practical and decorative, which serve to support and underscore the value of an everyday material as run-of-the-mill as a rope which is at once so strong and so fundamental in the progress of humankind.