Wooden Textile: Challenging the Expected

When perusing the internet this innovative use of wood caught my eye.  This is the work of Elisa Strozyk, a Textile and Surface Designer from Berlin.  She has effectively questioned our assumptions of wood with her studies on the wooden textile. Her applications are primarily interior design for floorings, curtains, upholstery or parts of furniture, but the method and aesthetic seem architecturally intriguing. She has won several awards in recent years and has exhibitions of her work across Europe.

This wooden textile is literally wood deconstructed into pieces and then attached to a textile base. The meeting of the rigid tiles and flexible molding of the fabric combine into a form that can change yet hold a shape.  The opportunities in this could go beyond simply testing different shapes of tiling (although the geometric consequences are quite intriguing). There are times in architecture where we need a divider of a space or other elements that need to move easily out of the way, but when they are in use must hold a specific shape. Screening and space dividers, even doors could benefit from this technique.

This designer created a new interaction with traditional materials: fabric and wood. It unlocks new interpretations of the basic qualities of these materials. Why has fabric been formless? Why can wood flex and move? These inquiries of furniture and textile design easily enter the conversations in architecture. Now that the boundaries between wood and fabric have been breached by Elisa Strozyk, how can we respond in built spaces?

Advertisement