Abstract
Nowadays, ethics and care for the environment have shifted paradigms in smart textile design towards responsible energy use and preservation of natural resources. In this research, we aim to relate material science and engineering to textile and interaction design in discovering a vibrant responsive materiality triggered by ultraviolet (UV) energy. The research addresses a bottom-up approach entangling scientific development in material science, textile craftsmanship, and design to the understanding of human use and the capacities for change of this natural phenomena. Compared to a conventional textile design processes where material and form composition connect in a final expression, in this research, the designer and scientist are seen as enablers of material relations, leaving the artifact to exhibit multiple states and forms which are transformed by possible use and their sensitivity to natural phenomena. The selected textile artefacts are seen as relational at the method level; they open for different conversations and materialize entanglements of materials, techniques, methods, and research methodologies that relate experimental research to human-centered and more-than-human approaches.
Keywords
relational textiles, responsiveness, natural phenomena, research methodology
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.67
Citation
Bang, A.L., Dumitrescu, D., Harsaae, M., Ladekarl, I.M., Landin, H., Lewis, E., Latusaari, M., Lawrynowicz, A., Miettunen, K., Mohan, M., Nyberg, M., Pedersen, L., Silva, P., Vaara, M., Vapaavouri, J., Worbin, L., Madani, Z.,and Rödby, K.(2025) Entangled in the design of a relational materiality: Beyond smart textiles, in Brandt, E., Markussen, T., Berglund, E., Julier, G., Linde, P. (eds.), Nordes 2025: Relational Design, 6-8 August, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.67
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
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Entangled in the design of a relational materiality: Beyond smart textiles
Nowadays, ethics and care for the environment have shifted paradigms in smart textile design towards responsible energy use and preservation of natural resources. In this research, we aim to relate material science and engineering to textile and interaction design in discovering a vibrant responsive materiality triggered by ultraviolet (UV) energy. The research addresses a bottom-up approach entangling scientific development in material science, textile craftsmanship, and design to the understanding of human use and the capacities for change of this natural phenomena. Compared to a conventional textile design processes where material and form composition connect in a final expression, in this research, the designer and scientist are seen as enablers of material relations, leaving the artifact to exhibit multiple states and forms which are transformed by possible use and their sensitivity to natural phenomena. The selected textile artefacts are seen as relational at the method level; they open for different conversations and materialize entanglements of materials, techniques, methods, and research methodologies that relate experimental research to human-centered and more-than-human approaches.