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Fabric architecture on display for millions in Osaka
May 1st, 2025
The 2025 World Expo Grand Ring in Osaka, Japan, where many events will take place April 13–Oct. 13. Country and regional pavilions are also inside it, including dozens of fabric structures. Image: Provided by Japan Association for the 2025. World Exposition © Expo 2025 A projected 28 million visitors to the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, […]
GuildWorks gives a California park its first shade
March 1st, 2025
River Park in Petaluma, Calif., is transforming. Its inaugural structure is the peninsula’s first shaded area—there aren’t even any trees—underneath a shade sail array composed of diamond shapes and providing a covered area more than 70 feet in diameter. It rises 20 feet and was created by GuildWorks LLC of Portland, Ore. “We see our […]
Fabric skin completely transforms riverboat casino
January 1st, 2025
Image: Structurflex/Daniel R. Berger II Calling it “a complete overhaul” doesn’t even begin to describe the transformation of the Bally’s riverboat casino in Kansas City, Mo., done by Structurflex of Merriam, Kan., with the FlexFacades cladding system. There’s nothing “old-timey riverboat” about the current look, although there is a nod to the water with some […]
Robotics plus ETFE fabric architecture in a Chinese building
December 1st, 2024
When you think of robotics, architecture probably is not what first comes to mind. But design company line+, of Hangzhou, China, partnered with robotics systems company RoboticPlus.AI to create a dynamic building like no other. The public building, Lotus by the Xiangjiang River in Changsha, in Hunan, China, has a central observation hall that raises […]
Baseball complex is repeat business for Signature Structures
July 1st, 2024
Spring means the start of baseball season, and in March, Dexter Southfield School in Brookline, Mass., opened its new indoor baseball and softball practice facility, thanks to work done by Signature Structures LLC of Easton, Pa. The company partnered with Dellbrook/JKS as general contractor and ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge. This is the second facility Signature Structures […]
Awnings encourage natural light and offer shade protection
July 1st, 2023
Natural light can help reduce energy usage in our buildings. This is a lesson known for centuries but seemingly forgotten after the 1940s with postwar technological advances in air conditioning (coupled with the Modernist design movement that declared “ornament is a crime”). These stripped-down building facades spoke volumes about a new era of high-tech materials […]
Orchestra requests tent seating for 1,700, tall enough for a bus
May 1st, 2023
With a large hospital fundraiser coming up, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra wanted to temporarily expand its home at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Loane Bros. Inc. was tasked with the project, which aimed to provide a climate-controlled space for cocktails, dinner and dessert for the fundraiser. The Towson, Md., company tented outside the iconic rounded building over […]
‘Fabricating Networks’ amplifies the invisible
September 1st, 2021
Installation view of “Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America,” The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Feb. 27 to May 31, 2021. © 2021 The Museum of Modern Art. Photo: Robert Gerhardt. Architect Felecia Davis used active textiles and advanced knitting technologies to create “Fabricating Networks,” on display at New York’s Museum of Modern Art […]
Putting the art in fabric architecture
June 1st, 2021
“The Canyon” installation at the Salt Lake City International Airport was inspired by Utah’s slot canyons formed from water rushing through rock over millions of years. Photo: © Recury, Dreamstime. A successful work of public art today should not be treated as an object sitting in the environment; rather it should be interpreted as the […]
LA’s SoFi Stadium sets a new standardwith massive roof and video display
February 1st, 2021
The 46 lower mesh panels were partially printed with graphics prior to cutting and welding, which required that the graphics align vertically across welded seams and horizontally across the aluminum frame members. Photo: Celina Tent. Featuring the world’s largest cable net roof and the world’s largest LED content playback system, SoFi Stadium, the new home […]