Interactive textile expressions in spatial design: Architecture as synesthetic expression

Journal article, 2010

Extending the role of the surface from just an embellishment of the tectonics to communicative devices challenges the traditional design process in architecture. Through a series of design examples, the paper presents a research program that introduces and discusses a new grammar of ornamentation generated by the relation between surface expression and the act of use in the build space. Projects such as Knitted light, Touching loops, Designing with heat and Tactile glow are examples meant to analyze the relation between material, space, time and interaction expression through the design of three dimensional knitted interactive textile structures. The design process joins together different design fields such as architectural, textile and interaction design in order to re-define the relation between human being and space. The design process starts with the microstructure of the textile element and ends with the space design using the interaction design as a tool to relate the human presence to space. The paper aims to propose new interactive spatial expressions created by the integration of computational technology into soft interactive textile surfaces that enable the user to perceive the complexity of the architectural space through a synesthetic perception, that exceeds the limits of visuality.