Hardware: Signs and banners

By Mason Riddle

Project Specs / Etude in blue: How it was done

The Ferrari Stamisol® FT 381 Ice Blue fabric mesh is probably the most distinguishing characteristic of Copenhagen’s DR Koncerthuset designed by Jean Nouvel. The translucent cobalt blue textile not only reveals the performance hall’s interior volumes and glass façade but also the armature to which it is attached. Visually diffused by the fabric, the square tubular steel frames and tension cables suggest an elegant, but ethereal scaffolding.

Attaching the 16,000m² of mesh fabric to the armature was no small feat. The fabric was tensioned over the square steel tubular frames, painted the same blue as the fabric and secured by elastic tie-down straps also in the same blue color. The panels of taut fabric ranged in size from 5m by 15m to 15m by 15m. Each panel was then attached to the structure.

The façade, requiring several months to install, is truly an integrated design of materials and color.

Contributing editor Mason Riddle writes frequently about design and art. Her piece on a rural New Zealand residential shade structure appeared in the Jan/Feb issue.