Introduction

Didem Ekici, Patricia Blessing, Basile Baudez

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

The introduction traces architecture’s enduring and evolving relationship with textiles in architectural theories, practices, and historiography from the Middle Ages to today. Architecture and weaving were closely associated when they were both categorized as mechanical arts in medieval Europe. In Renaissance, a rift emerged between architecture and crafts due to their conceptualization as, respectively, intellectual and manual practices. In the nineteenth century, the boundaries between decorative and fine arts were blurred as the textile industry became one of the most potent sources of wealth and gained increasing attention from professional design circles. Although investigations of textiles continued in architectural modernism, the expulsion of ornament relegated textiles as “decorative” arts to a less prominent standing than architecture. Textiles were consigned to “design history” or in the context of some non-Western cultures, moved into the realms of ethnography. Nevertheless, sporadic studies examined textiles in architecture particularly in ancient, mediaeval, and “non-Western” contexts. Over the past few decades, architects and designers have rethought the endless possibilities of building with or taking inspiration from woven materials due to the use of computer-aided design, digital fabrication, and innovative materials and engineering. This is part of a broader turn to materiality and a resurgence of craftsmanship in architectural practice and arts.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationTextile in Architecture
Subtitle of host publicationFrom the Middle Ages to Modernism
EditorsDidem Ekici, Patricia Blessing, Basile Baudez
PublisherRoutledge
Pages1-8
ISBN (Electronic)9781003281276
ISBN (Print)9781032250427
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 30 2023
Externally publishedYes

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