Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the only manufacturing method, and many other methods were later developed to form textile structures based on their intended use. Knitting and non-woven are other popular types of fabric manufacturing. In the contemporary world, textiles satisfy the material needs for versatile applications, from simple daily clothing to bulletproof jackets, spacesuits, and doctor's gowns.
A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles or a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using guy ropes tied to stakes or tent pegs. First used as portable homes by nomads, tents are now more often used for recreational camping and as temporary shelters.
Wearable art, also known as Artwear or "art to wear", refers to art pieces in the shape of clothing or jewellery pieces. These pieces are usually handmade, and are produced only once or as a very limited series. Pieces of clothing are often made with fibrous materials and traditional techniques such as crochet, knitting, quilting, but may also include plastic sheeting, metals, paper, and more. While the making of any article of clothing or other wearable object typically involves aesthetic considerations, the term wearable art implies that the work is intended to be accepted as an artistic creation or statement. Wearable art is meant to draw attention while it is being displayed, modeled or used in performances. Pieces may be sold and exhibited.
Gabardine is a durable twill worsted wool. It is a tightly woven waterproof fabric and is used to make outerwear and various other garments, such as suits, overcoats, trousers, uniforms, and windbreakers. Thomas Burberry created the fabric in the late 1870s and patented it in 1888. The name gabardine comes from "gaberdine", a type of long, cape-like dress worn during the Middle Ages.
A poncho is a kind of plainly formed, loose outer garment originating in the Americas, traditionally and still usually made of fabric, and designed to keep the body warm. Ponchos have been used by the Native American peoples of the Andes, Patagonia, and the Valley of Mexico since pre-Hispanic times, in places now under the territory of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela, and have also become familiar in parts of the U.S. A rain poncho is made from a watertight material designed to keep the body dry from the rain.
An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tightly over a light structure of aluminium, iron or steel, possibly wood or transparent material. The configuration of this structure is something of a truss, space frame or planar frame. Awnings are also often constructed of aluminium understructure with aluminium sheeting. These aluminium awnings are often used when a fabric awning is not a practical application where snow load as well as wind loads may be a factor.
Anni Albers was a German-Jewish visual artist and printmaker. A leading textile artist of the 20th century, she is credited with blurring the lines between traditional craft and art. Born in Berlin in 1899, Fleischmann initially studied under impressionist painter Martin Brandenburg from 1916 to 1919 and briefly attended the Kunstgewerbeschule in Hamburg in 1919. She later enrolled at the Bauhaus, an avant-garde art and architecture school founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar in 1922, where she began exploring weaving after facing restrictions in other disciplines due to gender biases at the institution.
A canopy is a type of overhead roof or else a structure over which a fabric or metal covering is attached, able to provide shade or shelter from weather conditions such as sun, hail, snow and rain. A canopy can also be a tent, generally without a floor. The word comes from the ancient Greek κωνώπειον, from κώνωψ, which is a bahuvrihi compound meaning "mosquito". The first 'o' changing into 'a' may be due to influence from the place name Canopus, Egypt thought of as a place of luxuries.
Warp knitting is defined as a loop-forming process in which the yarn is fed into the knitting zone, parallel to the fabric selvage. It forms vertical loops in one course and then moves diagonally to knit the next course. Thus the yarns zigzag from side to side along the length of the fabric. Each stitch in a course is made by many different yarns. Each stitch in one wale is made by several different yarns.
Gunta Stölzl was a German textile artist who played a fundamental role in the development of the Bauhaus school's weaving workshop, where she created enormous change as it transitioned from individual pictorial works to modern industrial designs. She was one of a small number of female teachers on the Bauhaus' staff and the first to hold the title of "Master".
Ripstop is a woven fabric, often made of nylon, using a reinforcing technique that makes it more resistant to tearing and wear. During weaving, stronger reinforcement yarns are interwoven at regular intervals in a crosshatch pattern. The intervals are typically 5 to 8 millimeters. Thin and lightweight ripstop fabrics have a two-dimensional structure due to the thicker yarns being interwoven in thinner cloth. Older lightweight ripstop fabrics display the thicker interlocking thread patterns in the material quite prominently, but more modern weaving techniques make the ripstop threads less obvious. A similar effect can be achieved by weaving two or three fine yarns together at smaller intervals.
Jersey is a knit fabric used predominantly for clothing manufacture. It was originally made of wool, but is now made of wool, cotton and synthetic fibers.
Textile-reinforced concrete is a type of reinforced concrete in which the usual steel reinforcing bars are replaced by textile materials. Instead of using a metal cage inside the concrete, this technique uses a fabric cage inside the same.
The Burnham Pavilions were public sculptures by Zaha Hadid and Ben van Berkel in Millennium Park, which were located in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. Both pavilions were located in the Chase Promenade South. Their purpose was to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Daniel Burnham's Plan of Chicago, and symbolize the city's continued pursuit of the Plan's architectural vision with contemporary architecture and planning. The sculptures were privately funded and reside in Millennium Park. The pavilions were designed to be temporary structures.
Felecia Davis is an American architect, engineer and educator. She is principal of FELECIA DAVIS STUDIO where she bridges art, engineering, design and architecture. Davis is known for her work in computational textiles.
Textile performance, also known as fitness for purpose, is a textile's capacity to withstand various conditions, environments, and hazards, qualifying it for particular uses. The performance of textile products influences their appearance, comfort, durability, and protection.
The different textile applications require a different set of performance parameters. As a result, the specifications determine the level of performance of a textile product. Textile testing certifies the product's conformity to buying specification. It also describes product manufactured for non-aesthetic purposes, where fitness for purpose is the primary criterion. Engineering of high-performance fabrics presents a unique set of challenges.
3D textiles are three-dimensional structures made with different manufacturing methods such as weaving, knitting, braiding, or nonwoven, or made with alternative technologies. 3D textiles are produced with three planar geometry, opposed to 2D textiles that are made on two planes. The weave in 2D textiles is perpendicular. The yarn is fed along two axis: length (x-axis) and width (y-axis), while 3D textiles also have a perpendicular weave, but they have an extra yarn with an angular feeding (z-axis) which creates thickness. 3D weaves are orthogonal weave structures, multilayer structures, and angle interlocks. 3D textiles have more manufacturing opportunities, various properties, and a broader scope of applications. These textiles have a wide range of applications, but they are most commonly used where performance is the primary criterion, such as technical textiles. Composite materials, manufacturing is one of the significant areas of using 3D textiles.
Coated fabrics are those that have undergone a coating procedure to become more functional and hold the added properties, such as cotton fabrics becoming impermeable or waterproof. Coated textiles are used in a variety of applications, including blackout curtains and the development of waterproof fabrics for raincoats.
Hylozoic Ground is an interactive model of architecture which was presented in the Venice Biennale of 2010 and the 18th Biennale of Sydney in 2012. Hylozoic Ground is an exemplar of live architecture: it is an installation by Philip Beesley, who is a professor at the University of Waterloo.
Philip Beesley is a multidisciplinary artist, designer, and university professor. A practitioner of sculpture test beds and digital media art, his work is cited for his contributions to the field of responsive and interactive systems.
