Handcrafted for the Winter Olympics in Livigno, Italy

Inside Asel’s Corona Project for the Athletes

Project Details

Project: Corona Project – Winter Olympics Hospitality Spaces
Location: Livigno, Italy
Artist: Asel / Madhouse Atelier
Created: 3 handcrafted rugs & 10 tufted pillows
Pillow Size: 45 × 45 cm
Rug Sizes:

• 3.5m × 2.5m

• 2.5m × 1.5m

• 1.5m × 1m
  Production Time: 1 month
  Created For: Corona-sponsored athlete suites and Olympic hotels

Some projects slowly become part of your story — and some arrive all at once.

The Corona Project for the Winter Olympics in Livigno, Italy became one of the biggest and most personal projects created by Madhouse Atelier so far. For the athlete suites and hotels sponsored by Corona, Asel handcrafted three oversized rugs and ten custom tufted pillows entirely by hand.

Every piece was created from her home studio.

And everything had to be completed within one month.

Meet Asel

Asel is the artist and founder behind Madhouse Atelier, a textile studio focused on handcrafted rugs, tufted artworks, and soft interior pieces that combine texture, color, and emotion.

Every work created in the studio is handmade from start to finish, embracing the imperfections and individuality that make handcrafted textiles feel alive and personal.

The Corona Project pushed that process to an entirely new scale.

How the Project Came About

Although conversations about the collaboration had been happening for a while, production officially began right after New Year’s. Suddenly, January became a full month of nonstop creating before the Winter Olympics began in Italy.

Three large-scale rugs.

Ten tufted pillows.

One artist.

One month.

And because the rugs were much larger than anything previously made in the studio, Asel had to build a completely new custom tufting frame specifically for the project.

A huge

Almost four meters wide.

“My whole living room basically disappeared for a month,” Asel says. “The giant frame completely took over the space. Everywhere there was yarn, fabric, tools, and unfinished rugs. It was chaotic, exhausting, exciting… and honestly really hard exciting”

Creating for the Athletes

The pieces were designed for the Corona-sponsored athlete suites and Olympic hospitality spaces in Livigno. The goal was to create interiors that felt warm, soft, and comforting against the cold alpine atmosphere outside.

These weren’t rugs made for a showroom or exhibition. They were created for spaces where athletes would rest, recover, and spend quiet moments during one of the biggest experiences of their lives.

Knowing the work would become part of that environment made the project deeply meaningful.

Each rug was tufted and finished entirely by hand, carrying the visible presence of the maker throughout every detail.

From Home Studio to Italy

After weeks of nonstop production, the entire collection was finally completed and shipped from the Madhouse Atelier home studio to Italy.

Seeing the work move from a living room turned temporary workshop to the Winter Olympics felt surreal.

“One moment I’m covered in yarn dust in my apartment and  next the work is going to Italy for the Olympics,” Asel says. “That still feels crazy to me.”

The Corona Project became an important milestone for Madhouse Atelier — a project where craftsmanship, sport, hospitality, and art came together through entirely handmade work.

A reminder that even in the middle of something as global as the Olympics, handmade pieces still have the power to make spaces feel warm and