Abstract
Current trends indicate that ways of living will change due to longer life expectation, urbanization, scarcity of raw materials and energy resources and increased mobility leading to a need for flexible housing.1. 2. Using textiles in architecture can be energy efficient and economic: it is lighter to transport and easier to (dis)assemble. We are interested in an aesthetic approach to using textiles in architecture: textiles can i.e. be soft, foldable, elastic and they are available in a variety of colours and textures. We want to play with the sensory capacity of textile to give architectural spaces a different touch and feel. Our team of designers, architects and engineers at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (LUASA) is currently working on the project ‘Stoffwechsel’ (“textile change”) with the aim to disclose the aesthetic potential of textiles in architecture. In this paper we focus on two sub-components within the ‘Stoffwechsel’ project: textile insulation and textile pavilion. We present the state of the art and key learnings from the project and end the paper with offering suggestions for further research.
Keywords
Textile architecture; textile aesthetic; sustainability; insulation;
Citation
Moor, T., Marin, A., and Häberle, J. (2014) An aesthetic approach to the use of textiles in architecture, in Lim, Y., Niedderer, K., Redström, J., Stolterman, E. and Valtonen, A. (eds.), Design's Big Debates - DRS International Conference 2014, 16-19 June, Umeå, Sweden. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2014/researchpapers/20
An aesthetic approach to the use of textiles in architecture
Current trends indicate that ways of living will change due to longer life expectation, urbanization, scarcity of raw materials and energy resources and increased mobility leading to a need for flexible housing.1. 2. Using textiles in architecture can be energy efficient and economic: it is lighter to transport and easier to (dis)assemble. We are interested in an aesthetic approach to using textiles in architecture: textiles can i.e. be soft, foldable, elastic and they are available in a variety of colours and textures. We want to play with the sensory capacity of textile to give architectural spaces a different touch and feel. Our team of designers, architects and engineers at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (LUASA) is currently working on the project ‘Stoffwechsel’ (“textile change”) with the aim to disclose the aesthetic potential of textiles in architecture. In this paper we focus on two sub-components within the ‘Stoffwechsel’ project: textile insulation and textile pavilion. We present the state of the art and key learnings from the project and end the paper with offering suggestions for further research.