For the sixth annual AZ Awards, our intrepid jury narrowed the field from over 800 submissions, received from dozens of countries, to select just 48 finalists that stood above the rest. In addition to presenting the AZ Award winners, Azure recognized these projects, products and concepts with Awards of Merit.

Los Angeles’s bustling grid, the sweeping boulevards of Baron Haussmann’s Paris, the whole of Manhattan: these are just a handful of cartographic elements captured within this line of rugs designed by Four O Nine. Each hand-tufted virgin wool piece uses pile variations to bring to life a locale’s unique geography, such as the 12-sided starburst of Place Charles de Gaulle in Paris. The firm, from Shanghai by way of Toronto, has designed the line with two residential grades and one commercial; the Residential Luxe version introduces a hand-knotting process that incorporates pure silk for a vibrant lustre.

Designers: Lukasz Kos and Andrei Zerebecky, China