TEXTILES.ORG
Working smarter, from fabric to product
June 29th, 2016
Amsterdam-based studio works with manufacturers to bring a design sensibility to smart fabrics. The theme for this year’s Met Gala, the annual Metropolitan Museum of Art style spectacular that brings out top celebrities and fashion industry icons, was about fashion in the age of technology. Some designers took the opportunity to integrate smart textiles into […]
Soaking up the sun
May 1st, 2016
Solar-powered Techstyle Haus demonstrates the aesthetic and functional benefits of state-of-the-art fabric architecture. When the 2014 Solar Decathlon Europe issued a call for attractive, energy-efficient homes powered by the sun, one team of design students tapped the potential of fabric architecture. The competition submission, known as Techstyle Haus, brought together 50 students from Rhode Island […]
Tropical canopies
April 1st, 2016
Climate and sustainability goals dictate the choice of ETFE membrane structures for the U.S. Embassy in Laos. In the capital city of Vientiane, Laos, the U.S. Embassy complex recently underwent major rebuilding and a thorough sustainability assessment. The outcome of this multi-year process produced some of the most energy-efficient, sustainable facilities to date for the […]
Person to person
February 1st, 2016
Meeting face-to-face with overseas customers brings a wealth of benefits. I’ve been traveling to Asia, including China, since 1981, promoting U.S. products for more than 100 firms. One vitally important lesson I’ve learned is the value of talking with overseas customers in person. Face-to-face conversations with prospects and customers bring tremendous and unexpected orders—and they […]
Geosynthetic solutions
May 1st, 2015
Combatting climate change and drought to provide drinking water from ocean water. By Pat Elliott Climate changes and drought have prompted major coastal cities in Australia, and worldwide, to construct desalination plants large enough to provide major populations with rainfall-independent sources of drinking water. In July 2009 the Australian state of Victoria signed a $3.5 […]
Building with textiles
April 1st, 2015
A report from the TextielMuseum exhibition: the current and future potential of textiles in architecture. By Marie O'Mahony The use of textiles in buildings is by no means new, with early examples of dwellings made using branches and animal furs that can be dated back more than 35,000 years. The TextielMuseum in Tilburg, Holland, is […]