The Social Fabric is a design driven research project conducted as part of the Creative Industry Scientific Programme (CRISP) into Smart Textile Services (STS). As Research Associate for Design Academy Eindhoven, I’ve collaborated with researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology for a year to generate knowledge on smart-textiles and their meaningful future application.
In my research I’ve linked the long slow evolution of textiles and the recent rapid development of technology. I researched how the social structures around textile manufacturing that drove the evolution of the material and gave textile purpose, meaning and symbolism throughout the centuries, can benefit the development and adoption of smart-textiles. This proces was described in an academic paper and the publication “The Social Fabric”.
Subsequently I let people experiment with textile and technology through a continuously expanding “patchwork-in-progress”, to let them explore new ideas and applications for smart-textiles in a social context and make them more accessible. In collaboration with Eindhoven University of Technology, Saxion University of Applied Science, V2_, Waag Society and the Textile Museum in Tilburg. |