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Re-thinking the industry at TensiNet Symposium 2013
August 8th, 2012
TensiNet, the European-based association of tension structure specialists and fabricators announced the 2013 TensiNet Symposium “[RE]THINKING lightweight structures.” Next year’s symposium will take place at Mimar Sinan Fine-Art University in Istanbul, Turkey from May 8-10. The three-day symposium will address analysis of materials and structures, ETFE, pneumatic structures and life cycle assessment of membrane materials […]
Designing with folded fabric pyramids
July 19th, 2012
Students at Parsons The New School for Design in New York spent a semester investigating the properties of textiles as “soft structures.” They wanted to work with Xorel, a paper-backed woven textile created by Carnegie Fabrics, Rockville Center, N.Y., to develop an exhibit for the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in May 2012. “The project […]
SmartGeometry 2012
July 1st, 2012
New technologies and materials to inspire designers are unveiled. By Marie O’Mahony SmartGeometry 2012, an annual four-day workshop, talkshop and symposium, took place on March 19–24 in Troy, N.Y. This year’s theme was Material Intensities–Simulation, Energy, Environment, giving participants the opportunity to explore the relationship between the digital and the material. The international event, held […]
A bigger wave of shade
July 1st, 2012
Following a 15-year successful run of its shade sculpture SUNAMI I™, Tensile Shade Products LLC has delivered SUNAMI II™, soon to be installed in Pierce’s Park, at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. The distinctive curved frame and double curved canopy of SUNAMI I appears in a variety of locations across the country and in many colors. It […]
Waterfalls inside: fabric creates water walls
July 1st, 2012
Metal mesh is a cool solution for Tulane University’s award-winning student center. By Frank Edgerton Martin In today’s most energy efficient and successful public buildings, metal meshes and fabrics are more than a decorative detail. They are active contributors to integrated building systems for air circulation, dehumidification, solar gain, screening and lighting. Tulane University’s new […]
Working it out in collaborations with designers and fabricators
July 1st, 2012
Collaboration can be a happy experience, if you know how to do it. By Nic Goldsmith Everyone has aspirations going into a project: the client has intentions, the architect has goals to meet, the budget has limits, the physical conditions of the building and location have demands. Everyone and everything has an impact on the […]
Creative interest: The architect-fabricator collaboration at its best
July 1st, 2012
The longstanding working relationship between an architect and a fabricator pays back in professional and personal rewards. We love working with architects because they often have great ideas and challenge us more than anyone else,” says Jim Miller, president of J. Miller Canvas Inc., Santa Ana, Calif. “Sometimes I think we should probably say no […]
Zusammenarbeit*: Collaboration of Frei Otto and Peter Stromeyer
July 1st, 2012
The transformation of tensile architecture. By Mark Zeh It’s probably a search for neatness, or some sort of clarity, that leads humans to search for “the“ definitive inventor or designer of any given thing. This kind of search for simple attribution is embedded in the historical narrative of every culture. For instance, every American is […]
Brickwork and fabric forms
July 1st, 2012
A transcontinental collaboration. By Mason Riddle It takes two to tango. Or make babies. And tea is always better with two. But to collaborate on a design project—given the idiosyncrasies of two creative personalities, egos and visions—is, potentially, a recipe for disaster. Not so with collaborators Ali Heshmati, architect/designer and principal of LEADinc, based in […]
New fabric structures shade musicians and audience
July 1st, 2012
Fabric is rollin’ on the river. As river towns go, Charleston, W. Va., saw its busiest times in the late 19th century and a decline by mid-20th century, but it is doing all right now. And, like many river towns, Charleston has recently rediscovered the benefits of a revitalized riverfront, including a narrow park and […]