I've begun conceptualizing an interiors project that I would like to fill, top to bottom, wall-to-wall, wall-to-floor, with fabric. Thick fabric, as a sort of sculptural, quasi-"structural" element (in that it might become one with the interior "skin" of the room itself).
I'm thinking of a wire-embedded fabric perhaps coming down off the walls, that can be poseable : pushed and pulled apart and will hold its shape. Has anyone had any experience with this kind of fabric, or does anyone know of some good precedents -- not necessarily with wire-embedded fabric, but with fabric used "structurally" as an interior installation -- to show the client?
I remember jump posted once some images of an artist friend of his who works with strings--hanging them from the ceiling of a gallery space and creating a flowing "ceiling" to the room by leaving a perceptible block of negative space below it. Jump?
Clive Wilkinson Architects has done a fair amount with fabric... what you are describing could also be achieved with battens sewn into pockets strategically (like in a sail) so you wouldn't have to have a structural mesh everywhere.
Check out the Pallotta, Chiat\Day and Google projects here:
With a thin fabric with a small amount of stretch (5% elastane or less) you could get a lot of custom shaping and structure just by using starch. It would burn beautifully.
You might also look into stretched ceiling systems such as Barrisol or French Ceiling. Pugh and Scarpa did it the cheap way in one of their projects (Reactor maybe?) by just using boat wrap over a frame.
yes, petra blaisse is fantastic. these are all very helpful, keep them coming!
on another note, another thing I've been searching for recently and have not succeeded in finding are Henri Matisse's costumes designed for some opera in the 30s... I saw them once in some museum exhibit and have never come across them since. Your Beuys pic reminds me of them, treekiller. Anyone know what I'm talking about?
Yes, "fabric in architecture" is terrible.
The "wrapping" projects are intriguing (and useful) but I am looking more specifically for fabric that might be installed in such a way as to be manipulateable by the user. Similar to the magnetic curtain agfax posted.
I do also need concept images for fabric installations though so these are great, thanks.
I have a book somewhere which shows a picture of a huge orange curtain petra blaisse installed outside, on a random street in NYC. It is filmy and boudoir-y. Fantastic. Completely changes the streetscape, blowing gently in the breeze. In my picture there is a big construction-type guy just standing in the street, staring up at it.
If your client annoys you:
<img src="http://www.bains.be/img/law.jpg">
There is (I think) a Japanese architect...in a magazine Maybe january of last year...who did a whole interior of fabric with these shapes that hung down, sort of like this, but better:
<img src="http://www.cmoa.org/images/exhibitions/luisa/Lambri1_%20popup.jpg">
There is (I think) a Japanese architect...in a magazine Maybe january of last year...who did a whole interior of fabric with these shapes that hung down, sort of like this, but better:
Mantaray, jumping in a bit late on this discussion but I thought you might want to take a look at industrial grade felt. I've seen some amazing interiors done with this stuff (tried to find pictures but couldn't remember any names but I’ll keep looking).
The benefit of using this (besides the fact it’s quite pretty) is that it’s very thick and when folded or crimped it’s strong enough to support itself, so it might be a substitutes for an internal wire mesh that you were describing in your original post. And because it's not technically a weave it can be cut without having to stitch ends and also responds very well to a laser cutter if that's part of the plan. Anyway just thought I’d bring up that option.
I was in fact initially thinking of industrial felt, you guessed it. :) But then wanted to expand the question to include all different possibilities. I'd love any felt interiors you can find, though, as I've only ever seen it used in art pieces & one-offs. thanks!
[url=http://www.moorheadandmoorhead.com/]these guys[/i] have a very, very, very cool felt stool that I love--among other pretty intriguing designs. Wish I could post the images themselves -- but if you scroll all the way to the right on their website, you'll find it.
Chain mail? I tried on a pair of chain mail gloves at a restaurant supply shop; it's really an interesting, sensual experience with the weight, gravity, fitting enclosure...
Have you looked into gkd metal fabrics? It seems theirs only curves on one axis, but you might find otherwise.
I went to the manufacturer's website but couldn't find it.
Susanna Hohmann is the woman I was trying to recall earlier. She basically laser-etched very intricate patterns in sheets of felt and then partitioned off spaces within a larger foyer. In plain light the etching would show up as a kind of beige surface design on the white felt, but when lit from the outside it was much more translucent than the rest of the sheet so she started to get this really interesting patterned glow from the fabric. I couldn't find that one online (or much else) but here's a link to a kind of interior module she worked on:
I was not thrilled with the way the installation turned out (it was only up for a day) because I hadn't worked with a material like that before. So - no pictures!
I was really happy with the panels themselves, though. I used the same process Claudy uses, but I didn't know she existed at the time! I found some old lady on a craft site who used that techinique to make scarves, and just recreated the technique on a large scale. Each panel took about 10 hours of constant manipulation to firm into the thickness/fiber pattern I was looking for. My arms and legs were so sore! That's why Claudy charges $1000s a yard.
Oh good, bossman beat me to Ernesto Neto, whose name I was trying to dig out of my memory.
As Janosh joked, keep in mind that if this is not a residential project flammability will be an issue. It's an issue in residential too, of course, but there's a lot more play.
Not exactly fabric, but I had an amazing spatial experience in an art installation in NY, in which a whole room was filled with balloons to about 3' high. Would have been even better at 5' high! Tis was a large foyer space that one was forced to traverse to get to the main exhibition space, so it was a forced engagement and very, very fun.
Also Archigram's Living Pods (I think) were all about being a malleable soft surface that could rise and fall depending on the user's need for function at any time. They didn't actually design how to make it possible, I'm afraid, but the idea is a good one and certainly more possible today.
And, per Oyster's chain mail reference (I have one of those gloves - I'm dangerous around knives), don't you love when the dentist puts that lead shield on your torso and you feel that weight sort of push you into the chair? I do.
You can get industrial needle-punched fabric (felt) that is class A rated. They even have types created for roofing applications that have a flame spread of zero (same as asbestos.) Depending on your occupancy class and if you have sprinklers, you may only need a class b for your space, in which case it would be even easier to find a felt that fits the bill.
Feb 25, 08 11:42 am ·
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sculptural fabric in (interior) architecture? (or art installation)?
Hi everyone,
I've begun conceptualizing an interiors project that I would like to fill, top to bottom, wall-to-wall, wall-to-floor, with fabric. Thick fabric, as a sort of sculptural, quasi-"structural" element (in that it might become one with the interior "skin" of the room itself).
I'm thinking of a wire-embedded fabric perhaps coming down off the walls, that can be poseable : pushed and pulled apart and will hold its shape. Has anyone had any experience with this kind of fabric, or does anyone know of some good precedents -- not necessarily with wire-embedded fabric, but with fabric used "structurally" as an interior installation -- to show the client?
I remember jump posted once some images of an artist friend of his who works with strings--hanging them from the ceiling of a gallery space and creating a flowing "ceiling" to the room by leaving a perceptible block of negative space below it. Jump?
thanks in advance!
mantaray
I know I've seen several, but I'm not finding them on the web. I'll keep an eye out.
Maybe this link would be of help?
http://www.fabricarchitecture.com/projects_archive.html
Clive Wilkinson Architects has done a fair amount with fabric... what you are describing could also be achieved with battens sewn into pockets strategically (like in a sail) so you wouldn't have to have a structural mesh everywhere.
Check out the Pallotta, Chiat\Day and Google projects here:
With a thin fabric with a small amount of stretch (5% elastane or less) you could get a lot of custom shaping and structure just by using starch. It would burn beautifully.
You might also look into stretched ceiling systems such as Barrisol or French Ceiling. Pugh and Scarpa did it the cheap way in one of their projects (Reactor maybe?) by just using boat wrap over a frame.
joseph beuys is my first fabric reference.
barbarella is my second!
rem has a great collaborator for his fabric/curtain walls.. anybody remember her name?
fabric in architecture mag is a waste of paper.
Petra Blaisse, her firm is called Inside/Outside
aha! this is what i was looking for!
yes, petra blaisse is fantastic. these are all very helpful, keep them coming!
on another note, another thing I've been searching for recently and have not succeeded in finding are Henri Matisse's costumes designed for some opera in the 30s... I saw them once in some museum exhibit and have never come across them since. Your Beuys pic reminds me of them, treekiller. Anyone know what I'm talking about?
Yes, "fabric in architecture" is terrible.
The "wrapping" projects are intriguing (and useful) but I am looking more specifically for fabric that might be installed in such a way as to be manipulateable by the user. Similar to the magnetic curtain agfax posted.
I do also need concept images for fabric installations though so these are great, thanks.
i like it when you empty the lint trap in the dryer and you pull off one nice sheet of warm fluffy lint.
girlfriend bellybutton lint is also cool...
I have a book somewhere which shows a picture of a huge orange curtain petra blaisse installed outside, on a random street in NYC. It is filmy and boudoir-y. Fantastic. Completely changes the streetscape, blowing gently in the breeze. In my picture there is a big construction-type guy just standing in the street, staring up at it.
we need more pictures in this thread!
<img src="http://media.dwell.com/images/MAG_DW0507_KSUBA_03.jpg">
<img src="http://scrapbook.citizen-citizen.com/photos/uncategorized/dohusuh3.jpg">
If your client annoys you:
<img src="http://www.bains.be/img/law.jpg">
There is (I think) a Japanese architect...in a magazine Maybe january of last year...who did a whole interior of fabric with these shapes that hung down, sort of like this, but better:
<img src="http://www.cmoa.org/images/exhibitions/luisa/Lambri1_%20popup.jpg">
uh, sorry. I have the dumb tonight.
If your client annoys you:
There is (I think) a Japanese architect...in a magazine Maybe january of last year...who did a whole interior of fabric with these shapes that hung down, sort of like this, but better:
Mantaray, jumping in a bit late on this discussion but I thought you might want to take a look at industrial grade felt. I've seen some amazing interiors done with this stuff (tried to find pictures but couldn't remember any names but I’ll keep looking).
The benefit of using this (besides the fact it’s quite pretty) is that it’s very thick and when folded or crimped it’s strong enough to support itself, so it might be a substitutes for an internal wire mesh that you were describing in your original post. And because it's not technically a weave it can be cut without having to stitch ends and also responds very well to a laser cutter if that's part of the plan. Anyway just thought I’d bring up that option.
I was in fact initially thinking of industrial felt, you guessed it. :) But then wanted to expand the question to include all different possibilities. I'd love any felt interiors you can find, though, as I've only ever seen it used in art pieces & one-offs. thanks!
felt is an amazing material. I did an installation project with raw wool that I hand-felted onto silk panels in grad school, it was arduous, but fun.
Here's some interiors with industrial felt:
http://www.feltstudio.com/design.html
Also, check out Claudy Jongsstra's work, she does custom felt installations, as well as running her own organic sheep farm in the netherlands!
http://www.claudyjongstra.com/architecture
[url=http://www.moorheadandmoorhead.com/]these guys[/i] have a very, very, very cool felt stool that I love--among other pretty intriguing designs. Wish I could post the images themselves -- but if you scroll all the way to the right on their website, you'll find it.
haha, i have the dumb tonight, too, I guess. :)
these guys!
Any pics of your grad installation, dutch? Sounds intriguing.
Where is that picture from, citrus?
Dutch, that claudyjongstra stuff is great!!
Chain mail? I tried on a pair of chain mail gloves at a restaurant supply shop; it's really an interesting, sensual experience with the weight, gravity, fitting enclosure...
Have you looked into gkd metal fabrics? It seems theirs only curves on one axis, but you might find otherwise.
French National Library, from their website
That image was from an I.D. blog:
http://www.core77.com/corehome/2005/06/steelcase-won-neocon-news.html
I went to the manufacturer's website but couldn't find it.
Susanna Hohmann is the woman I was trying to recall earlier. She basically laser-etched very intricate patterns in sheets of felt and then partitioned off spaces within a larger foyer. In plain light the etching would show up as a kind of beige surface design on the white felt, but when lit from the outside it was much more translucent than the rest of the sheet so she started to get this really interesting patterned glow from the fabric. I couldn't find that one online (or much else) but here's a link to a kind of interior module she worked on:
http://www.designcenter.umn.edu/reference_ctr/publications/pdfs/db15_drapewall_report_June_2007.pdf
cambridge architectural metals also does nice metal fabrics.
some gkd weaves are rigid, some bend in one direction and some are supple in two dimensions....
I was not thrilled with the way the installation turned out (it was only up for a day) because I hadn't worked with a material like that before. So - no pictures!
I was really happy with the panels themselves, though. I used the same process Claudy uses, but I didn't know she existed at the time! I found some old lady on a craft site who used that techinique to make scarves, and just recreated the technique on a large scale. Each panel took about 10 hours of constant manipulation to firm into the thickness/fiber pattern I was looking for. My arms and legs were so sore! That's why Claudy charges $1000s a yard.
Organza fabric in ARO's Qiora Store:
artist Do Ho Suh's hanging fabrics:
...also, some operable exterior chainmail curtains in AGPS' Hohenbühlstrasse housing:
ernesto neto?
http://www.kultureflash.net/archive/187/ErnestoNeto_Pantheon.html
Oh good, bossman beat me to Ernesto Neto, whose name I was trying to dig out of my memory.
As Janosh joked, keep in mind that if this is not a residential project flammability will be an issue. It's an issue in residential too, of course, but there's a lot more play.
Not exactly fabric, but I had an amazing spatial experience in an art installation in NY, in which a whole room was filled with balloons to about 3' high. Would have been even better at 5' high! Tis was a large foyer space that one was forced to traverse to get to the main exhibition space, so it was a forced engagement and very, very fun.
Also Archigram's Living Pods (I think) were all about being a malleable soft surface that could rise and fall depending on the user's need for function at any time. They didn't actually design how to make it possible, I'm afraid, but the idea is a good one and certainly more possible today.
And, per Oyster's chain mail reference (I have one of those gloves - I'm dangerous around knives), don't you love when the dentist puts that lead shield on your torso and you feel that weight sort of push you into the chair? I do.
I don't have a picture of it but UCLA's lecture hall is all done in green felt. It looks pretty great.
re: fire code...
You can get industrial needle-punched fabric (felt) that is class A rated. They even have types created for roofing applications that have a flame spread of zero (same as asbestos.) Depending on your occupancy class and if you have sprinklers, you may only need a class b for your space, in which case it would be even easier to find a felt that fits the bill.
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