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The role of fabric, shade in reducing embodied carbon
August 1st, 2023
Using the Adaptive Reuse strategy, FTL Design Engineering Studio retrofitted an unused baseball stadium in Bridgeport, Conn., to reduce embodied carbon with an all-fabric roof and signature entry marquee. The ROI was a tenfold increase in tickets sold vs. the original baseball team. Photo: Carl B. Vernlund Photography By now it is standard baseline that […]
Perry Pavilion
February 1st, 2023
To help the Virginia Arts Festival celebrate its 25th Anniversary at a new venue, a new custom tent was needed. Tents LLC, of Frederick, Md., approached the Tukwila, Wash.-based Rainier Tent with a bold and creative idea for the Pat “Bunny” Perry Pavilion, a staple for the annual festival. FTL Design Engineering Studio designed the […]
Tern Point Shade Renovation
January 1st, 2023
Sometimes building a home to capitalize on the view of its surroundings may introduce some unintended problems. Fabric Structures, based in Whangarei, NZ, had been consulted by the owners of a home that had been designed and built around the north-facing aspect and proximity to the ocean and sand dunes of the Mangawhai harbor. Extensive […]
Fabric structures that withstand extreme environments
October 1st, 2022
Creativity is required when it comes to designing shades that can withstand Hawaii’s extreme trade winds. A solution devised by Tropical J’s is using motorized wire-guide shades, shown here installed at a residence, rather than tracked or keder shades, which can blow out of the tracks in high wind. Photo: Tropical J’s Inc. Visitors to […]
An alternative to brick and mortar
April 1st, 2022
Fabric structures can offer an affordable, practical grain-storage solution. This fabric structure at the Rake, Iowa, location of Landus, a farmer-owned cooperative, measures 685 feet long and 180 feet wide. It was built in 2021 and holds up to 4 million bushels of corn or soybeans. Photo: Landus Successful businesses know that eco-friendly practices are […]
2019 State of the Industry
March 1st, 2019
Economic growth in 2018 increased in the United States: Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reached 3.0 percent for the first time since 2005. Unfortunately, growth has been down in other advanced economies such as Canada, Japan and Europe. Growth in the emerging economy of China was also down in 2018—reaching 6.6 percent. China’s GDP is projected […]
Fabric’s role in revitalizing neglected urban areas
January 1st, 2019
Like other rust belt cities, Detroit began declining decades ago, propelled by a combination of bad luck, bad timing, bad decisions and economic transformations that delivered additional crushing, seemingly fatal, blows. Its condition was such that not so long ago, numerous companies sprang up offering tours of the city’s ruined buildings and factories—a somewhat morbid […]
Tree stump sculptures made from fabric
September 1st, 2018
The inspiration for artist Tamara Kostianovsky’s fabric sculptures comes from an unlikely place. As a young girl, she worked in a surgeon’s office where she encountered the human body in ways most of us never do, seeing the world beneath the skin—veins, ligaments, muscles and chunks of fat. The colors, texture and movement fascinated her. […]
Working with architects
January 1st, 2018
Key to the success of a productive partnership: exploration, preparation, communication and education, with a firm grasp of details and a final vision for the project. Fabrics and architecture have been partners for millennia and have worked together to create some of the most iconic, useful and beautiful structures in the world—from traditional Mongolian yurts […]
Fabric structures guidelines updated
February 9th, 2017
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Tension Membrane Committee has revised ASCE 55-10, the organization’s primary set of guidelines for designing a wide variety of tensioned fabric structures. The updated standard, ASCE 55-16, includes a chapter on air-supported structures, information on how to design a structure to meet codes and more. Working groups spent […]