TEXTILES.ORG
LED lighting offers design opportunities in fabric display applications
October 7th, 2009
With its roots in theater, and later film, fabric and lighting techniques lend versatility to a wide variety of fabric applications. More recently, light emitting diode (LED) lighting, developed as an architectural fixture, has been adopted by the entertainment industry and is quickly spreading to exhibits, advertising and other markets. The fabric and lighting exhibit […]
“Barefoot Contessa” highlights outdoor entertaining
October 7th, 2009
Each year, House Beautiful magazine brings home entertaining to life with its “Kitchen of the Year” at Rockefeller Center, New York, N.Y. The magazine’s monthly columnist, Ina Garten (known as the Barefoot Contessa), inspired the 2009 Kitchen of the Year, with both 1,000 square feet of culinary space and another 1,000 square feet of outdoor […]
Coated fabrics aloft, restored for history
October 7th, 2009
A daring Frenchman named Louis Blériot became the first to fly across the English Channel 100 years ago. The coated fabric on his plane’s wings, fuselage and collapsible floats (Blériot couldn’t swim) was manufactured by German-based Continental AG, a specialist in rubber and plastics technology. When the Musée des Arts & Métiers in Paris restored […]
Landmark branch on the (geo)grid
October 7th, 2009
When Valley National Bank chose a busy intersection of Manalapan Township, N.J., for its new branch, it envisaged an attention-grabbing building—and equally arresting landscaping. Dramatic grade changes on the property required high, good-looking retaining walls. To reinforce soils behind the 12-foot segmented wall, the construction team chose geotextiles from Strata Systems Inc., Cumming, Ga., a […]
Bio-responsive textiles modeled after pine cones
October 7th, 2009
Nature offers myriad ways of protecting living things from moisture, dryness or cold temperatures. A U.K.-based start-up company, MMT Textiles Ltd., London, England, hopes to offer the same advantages in performance clothing. MMT modeled its new, patented fiber technology after pine cones—common forest shape-shifters that respond to climate conditions by opening or closing. When conventional […]
Fighting earthquake damage with fabric
October 7th, 2009
A group of 27 companies in 13 countries is on a mission to research, develop and manufacture sensor-embedded textiles for use in geotechnical and masonry applications. The European Union partially funds POLYTECT (Polyfunctional Technical Textiles against Natural Hazards) to find technical textiles made with carbon and glass fibers to stabilize structures damaged by earthquakes, landslides […]
Drown the sound with recycled acoustic blankets
October 7th, 2009
Cut down on noise at work or home with the EZ Hang acoustic soundproofing blanket, a portable and easily mounted 40 square feet of recycled all-natural textiles that can reduce sound by 10 decibels. LookChina Inc., Cramerton, N.C., markets reclaimed natural fiber products in a number of styles. EZ Hang’s outside loops allow blankets to […]
Durasol consolidates awning operations
October 7th, 2009
North American commercial operations for Durasol Awnings Inc. are being consolidated into a one-story modern facility in Middlebury, Vt., with lots of room for expansion. Durasol, a manufacturer of outdoor, manual and motorized awnings, freestanding solar awnings and other products, may also add a new division from its parent company, BAT S.p.A. of Italy, to […]
Heywinkel Group reorganizes
October 7th, 2009
Julius Heywinkel GmbH has now become Heytex Bramsche GmbH, making the company’s successful brand name also the name of their company. The Heytex companies manufacture coated and laminated technical textiles for products ranging from truck tarps and tents to advertising banners, large-format screens and stadium roofing. Along with the corporate restructuring, there has been a […]
DuPont, DOE launch solar research program
October 7th, 2009
Thin film photovoltaic (PV) modules would be used for more mainstream commercial and residential solar energy applications if they were waterproof, since moisture degrades PV module performance. Chemical giant DuPont, Wilmington, Del., will partner with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to solve this problem, testing an ultra-thin protective film during a three-year research project. […]