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Commencement ceremony features colorful canopy
September 1st, 2009
Artists Jenna Didier and Oliver Hess (founders of Materials & Applications in Los Angeles) created a shade canopy of blue and white streamers with designer Emily White for the spring commencement ceremony at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif. Called “Pomona College: String Theory,” the canopy was woven on site from trucker’s grade nylon webbing and […]
Tension tent pavilions produce energy
September 1st, 2009
FTL Solar, the leading manufacturer of lightweight, flexible power generating fabrics and structures integrated with thin film solar cells, recently unveiled the PromoMod, a line of 6.1m by 6.1m free-standing tension tent pavilions developed for the advertising, marketing and product placement industries. PromoMod produces sufficient energy to power an array of devices, including computers, communications […]
Hearing fabric
September 1st, 2009
The why and wherefore of designing for sound with textiles. By Todd Willmert All building materials are acoustical; all affect how sound is reflected, absorbed or transmitted. Through materials, sound can be sustained through reflection or made to dissipate through absorption. Transmission touches on the how much sound is permitted to pass through the material […]
Coney Island amphitheater features fabric roof
September 1st, 2009
The iconic Coney Island has been through its share of troubles, but a $47 million, 8,000-seat amphitheater designed by Grimshaw Architects, New York, N.Y., could help bring more people to the famous location. The theater will feature a 5,400m2 roof made of steel and translucent fiberglass lit up by strobe lights. Marty Markowitz, president of […]
Structures designed for recovery
September 1st, 2009
Around the world, companies have come forward with innovative emergency relief shelters. By Abbie Yarger Tornados, floods, wildfires, hurricanes. No matter what the disaster, it’s no easy feat coping with the aftermath. Developing, building and providing shelters suited for relief from dire conditions can be difficult as well. From prototype to finished product, here’s a […]
The UK’s blow-up structures experts
September 1st, 2009
British fabric structures manufacturer Tectoniks is all set to help—bring on the disasters. By David Littlefield Post-disaster accommodation has changed little over the years, and it is easy to bring to mind row upon row of tented structures that spring up to provide quick, temporary and low-cost shelters for people with nowhere else to go. […]
Architects prepare for disaster
September 1st, 2009
New York architects Viraline have a plan for repopulating Manhattan — after the hurricane that hasn’t happened yet hits the NYC shoreline causing Katrina-like damage; it could happen. By Mason Riddle In theory, shelter is such a simple, basic concept. When the need for shelter is thrown into high relief by a disaster, however, it […]
Eco-friendly yarn available in various patterns
September 1st, 2009
The Everlasting collection is made from post-consumer and post-industrial yarns, is available in six different patterns for contract, hospitality and home décor use, and has received Silver MBDC Cradle to Cradle certification. Fabrics pass UFAC Class 1 and California Bulletin 117-Section E fire retardancy, and are durable enough to pass contract-rated abrasion. For more information, […]
Woolserge curtains fine tune sound in concert hall
September 1st, 2009
Architect Jean Nouvel’s design for the new Danish Radio Concert Hall in Copenhagen has a notably unique exterior and interior. While the exterior is wrapped in a vinyl-coated polyester fabric skin in a custom blue that also acts as a projection screen, the interior wraps the audience with wood. Yet the sublime acoustics are the […]
Air-supported membrane roof gets retrofitted
September 1st, 2009
The Dedmon Athletic Center at Radford University, Radford, Va., is known as “The Bubble” because of its air-supported membrane roof installed in 1981 by Birdair Inc. The roof outlasted its 20-year expectancy but still needed a retrofit in 2009. The recently completed composite membrane roof is the world’s first made of Tensotherm™ with Nanogel®, a […]