Soaring canopies take flight at Indiana International

September 1, 2008  |  Awnings & Canopies, Projects

Indiana International Airport’s recent renovations included a five-story, 2.5-million-square-foot parking facility topped with helix-shaped canopies designed to emulate the spirals in the ramp. Birdair Inc., Buffalo, N.Y., used approximately 75,000 square feet of PTFE material to form two cano…
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Fireproof tents shelter visitors at Mecca

September 1, 2008  |  Projects, Tents

Each year, more than two million Muslims visit the Holy Mosque at Mecca for three days and nights. Mina Valley in Saudi Arabia is one of the stations housing pilgrims, but a 1997 fire during Hajj destroyed thousands of cotton tents used for shelter there. Saudi authorities are rebuilding the Mina Va…
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Beijing Olympics feature underwater geosynthetics

September 1, 2008  |  Geosynthetics, Projects

Some of the most impressive aspects of the Shunyi Rowing-Canoeing Park are underwater. An artificial lake and wild-water complex in the Chinese city of Shunyi is set in a giant rectangular stretch of land specifically built for the Olympics. Most of the park is made up of a giant man made body of wa…
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Olympics features top-to-bottom membrane structure

August 1, 2008  |  Fabric Structures, Markets, Projects

For almost five centuries, the Forbidden City—located in Beijing, and home of the imperial palace—has been the symbol of China’s distinct grandeur, as well as its detachment from the world. But with the world’s most populous country on a fast track to industrialize its infrastructure in rece…
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Aerostat system provides mobile aerial platform

August 1, 2008  |  Advanced Textiles, Projects

[Aerostar International Inc.] Sioux Falls, S.D., U.S.A The TIF-25K Tethered Aerostat System, which took its maiden voyage in September 2007, provides an easy-to-use, mobile aerial platform that can be deployed within hours of arrival on site. The aerostat body consists of a proprietary nylon-based f…
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U.S. Army base camp uses rapid deploying tent systems

August 1, 2008  |  Advanced Textiles, Projects, Tents

[Vertigo Inc.] Lake Elsinore, Calif., U.S.A. [Outdoor Venture Corp.] Stearns, Ky., U.S.A. Vertigo’s rapid deploying tent systems with AirBeam™ technology are replacing the aluminum frame TEMPER tents used in Force Provider, the U.S. Army’s premier base camp. Force Provider’s Expeditionary Ba…
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Custom Covers military tents provide versatile protection

August 1, 2008  |  Projects, Tents

[Custom Covers] Southampton, U.K. This military utility shelter by Custom Covers is the first generation of a family of tents designed for use as general service tenting or as temporary deployable accommodations, providing versatile protection against high winds, snow loads, and other adverse weathe…
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Vinyl-covered beer can used on truckbed

August 1, 2008  |  Graphics, Markets, Projects

It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “drink and drive” when Dave Leach’s huge 1970s Old Style® beer can goes rolling down the road on a truckbed. Leach, a Chicago-based collector of the world’s largest items, commissioned the grand old can for his grand old man, honoring a father whos…
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Study examines transfer of substances from textiles into skin

August 1, 2008  |  Advanced Textiles, Projects

Drug-delivery systems such as nicotine patches are designed to transfer substances from textiles into skin. The Hohensteiner Institute, Bönnigheim, Germany, studied various microcapsule depot structures with regard to mechanical strength, capacity to release substances in continuous and controllabl…
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Japan’s ‘hidden treasure’ forms furniture line

August 1, 2008  |  Projects, Upholstery

Sugi trees, or Cryptomeria japonica, make up 13 percent of Japan’s land mass, planted throughout the country during post-World-War-II reconstruction. Its Latin name means “hidden treasure of Japan,” and furniture manufacturer Hida Sangyo Co. Ltd., Hida-Takayama, Japan, and Italian designer Enz…
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