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IFF announces Innovation Award
April 7th, 2010
The Industrial Fabrics Foundation (IFF) announced the development of the Innovation Award, a new award program created to inspire imagination and innovation within the specialty fabrics industry. Any company that has developed and manufactured an innovative product related to the industry is eligible in one of three award categories: fabric, hardware and machinery; end product; […]
Cool structure designed for hot climates
March 19th, 2010
A traveling fabric-clad exhibition structure has been designed by the European design firm Architecture and Vision, to take advantage of natural cooling strategies and low-embodied energy materials such as fabric. “Mobile Village” represents a system of traveling exhibition pavilions that features eco-sustainable functions and technologies, such as fabric mesh sun protection, flexible and integrated solar […]
Mehler TensileDraw
January 19th, 2010
Reviewed by Aaron Westre TensileDraw is a new 3-D membrane modeling tool provided by Mehler Texnologies. Mehler is a German company specializing in the production of a variety of coated fabrics for architecture, transportation, sporting and other industries. The software was developed for Mehler by M E+C S.r.l., an Italian company that produces a variety […]
Tension structure connection details
January 1st, 2010
God is in the details when it comes to tension structure design Ludwig Mies van der Rohe got it right when he said “God is in the details.” Another well-worn phrase has it that we must sweat the details and the big things will take care of themselves, so with this article we look at […]
Unusual bamboo and fabric structure offers design advantages
January 1st, 2010
Careful attention to joinery and geometry brings a work of art (and a functional pedestrian bridge) to a busy intersection in Colombia This unusual fabric and bamboo structure has several sustainable design advantages going for it, starting with the design of the intersection it crosses. The intersection is a mini cloverleaf with clear and practical […]
The cost of building fabric structures (part 1)
January 1st, 2010
Experienced professionals comment on how much it costs to build fabric structures By Samuel J. Armijos Editor’s note: Part 2 of this two-part series on cost estimating appears in the Jan/Feb 2011 issue. The hardest part of designing and building a fabric structure is determining its cost. There are three major components to a fabric […]
Analyzing project size for fabric structure budgets
January 1st, 2010
By Mason Riddle Small projects Not everyone gets a bird’s-eye view of his or her handiwork. But that is exactly what Sollertia Inc., Montreal, Canada, founder and president Claude Le Bel did when he leapt from an airplane above Parachutisme Nouvel-Air. Soaring above the fields and meadows, La Bel liked what he saw—a graceful, highly […]
Inside the distinctive Georgia Dome
January 1st, 2010
Atlanta’s Georgia Dome establishes a number of new fabric-roof records By Gene Rebeck Call the 70,500-seat Georgia Dome a domed stadium, according to its designers, and you miss the point. To understand how, you first need the answer to a key question: Why a dome in Atlanta? Although many domed stadia have been built in […]
Design challenge seeks to improve New York streetscape
January 1st, 2010
New York City’s urbanSHED competition invited designers to propose alternatives to the ubiquitous grimy, dark sidewalk scaffolds that blight the city If Kevin Erickson, of KNEstudio, New York City, had his way, all of New York City would benefit from the addition of “clouds” of air-inflated ETFE beams as replacements for the usual grim sidewalk […]
New mobile home design inspired by the Sydney Opera House
January 1st, 2010
Dutch industrial designer Axel Enthoven has designed a new mobile home inspired by the Sydney Opera House. In fact, the fabric and stainless steel trailer has been christened “Opera” in recognition of its design roots. Developed in cooperation with Rob Vos, who conceived the idea, the Opera trailer tent opens and levels itself in five […]