New technology and manufacturing possibilities could lead to smart textiles that will help to change our environment for the better. This is the vision of Diederik Fokkema, who set up the ArchiTextiles initiative to research the theme of smart textiles.

He will lecture on this topic at Material Xperience on Friday, January 24^th. The seminar will deal with the broader applications of textiles in (interior) architecture.

Using three diverse projects as examples, Diederik Fokkema addresses the key drivers in the development of innovative textiles in interior applications. In particular, the focus is on the technological and sustainability aspects of such materials.

In the seminar, the ArchiTextiles founder will look at the prototypes and applications of textiles in design, the material properties and our on-going fascination with material in the interior design practice.

The ArchiTextiles research will then be introduced and discussed. This will be the main focus of the seminar.

A large group of designers has taken part in this research, from project architects to stage, textiles and fashion designers.

In essence, the ArchiTextiles project is a design-research in order to find innovative ways to create space with textiles.

Fokkema & Partners initiated the multi-disciplinary project from the feeling that the recent crisis has led to less room for design-research in the ‘normal’ sense of the word, particularly design projects.

A fascination for the flurry of developments in the textile industry provided the backdrop. Equally, it seemed to the architects that such textile innovations are underused within the world of (interior) architecture.

See the whole programme for the Material Xperience seminars here.

Images via ArchiTextiles/Fokkema & Partners.