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Universal Fabric Structures wins prize for Australia project
September 1st, 2007
The Sydney Wildlife World, a showcase of Australian flora and fauna, recently earned Universal Fabric Structures first prize for innovation from the Australian Association of Canvas Manufacturers. Universal Fabric Structures’ design combines lightweight steel CHS-curved clearspan arches with a cable bracing system that incorporates a fine transparent mesh. Inspired by the skeletal frame of a […]
Temporary fabric structure decorates gallery lawn
September 1st, 2007
In early July, the lawn next to the Serpentine Gallery in London’s Covent Garden neighborhood featured a temporary fabric structure designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid and Patrick Schumacher, partner in her namesake firm. More than 5m tall, the structure consisted of three identical fabric structures, or “parasols,” arrayed around a central point. Each […]
SLVDesign wins design award for buildings lined with felt
September 1st, 2007
SLVDesign has been honored with best of category in Environments in I.D. magazine’s 2007 Annual Design Review for its Drape Wall concept (FA, May/June 2006). The design is a system of multifunctional modular building units lined with industrial felt. “It’s so much more intelligent than what’s out there now,” said one of the jurors.
Architect to publish book on tension structure technology
September 1st, 2007
Architect Roberto Santomauro of Montevideo is publishing a introductory book on tension structure technology. Not intended as an in-depth study, Tensoestructuras is directed at students, architects, engineers, designers and builders who are curious about the technology’s possibilities.
Competition entrant receives high marks for Chicago 2107 design
September 1st, 2007
One competing futurist sets the Windy City a-sail. By Paula Feigum If Frank Lloyd Wright had been asked to envision his Chicago 100 years later, what might he have described? Even as an adept futurist, could he have predicted the hastening effects of climate change—even amid the heady triumphs of the Industrial Revolution—then redesigned an […]
Tensile fabric reigns in recent interior projects
September 1st, 2007
Some of the most interesting interior fabric structures are found behind (private) doors. By Ed Matson Over the past 10 years, interior tensile fabric structures have advanced greatly from the arrangements of stretched cotton stapled to wooden batons that were typical for the time. Now, with a wide range of both synthetic and natural fabrics, […]
Digitally printed fabric creates illusion of concrete façade
September 1st, 2007
The fabric was used when the Abteiberg Museum moved temporarily into a vacant theater. By Jake Kulju On September 18, 2006, in Mönchengladbach, Germany, the Abteiberg Museum shut down for renovations that are scheduled to continue until November, 2007. In order to keep the museum’s services available to the public, the town offered a vacant […]
Casebook: Going green
September 1st, 2007
An occasional reference section on landscape design using technical textiles and geosynthetics for aesthetic ends. The long-term success of a geosynthetics installation depends not simply upon the presence of geosynthetics but on how well they work in conjunction with natural elements, particularly vegetation. Plants and trees possess their own unique performance and aesthetic characteristics. We […]
Keeping outdoor fabrics clean
September 1st, 2007
The basics of fabric cleaning and maintenance for awnings, canopies and fabric structures. By Todd Willmert We think of fabric maintenance and our thoughts turn to washing machines or the thread and needle—the basic techniques used on our clothing. Fabric can easily, readily be cleaned and patched, and therein lies part of its appeal. Of […]
Lightweight fabric roof covers glazed café façade
September 1st, 2007
Café Lichtblick may be Innsbruck’s favorite hot spot. High over the roofs of Innsbruck, Austria, on the rooftop of City Hall, sits the café and restaurant Lichtblick (“bright spot”). True to its name, the café’s lucid and open structure has unencumbered sightlines of the sublime mountains surrounding the city due to a glazed façade made […]