This paper presents experiences from a two-day teaching workshop where first year students in architecture meet with first year students in textile design for an assignment on building structures with textile, soil and plants designing for indoor gardening with the aim of inspiring for more sustainable lifestyles. The background is a research project on textile architecture with the objective of exploring this new field and to establish a platform for long-term collaboration between the disciplines of architecture and textile design. The paper addresses pedagogical challenges in the meeting between first-years students of different disciplines and traditions, but also in the meeting between research and undergraduate teaching. The students produced creative results but had difficulties in exploring the full complexity of the task. An evaluative discussion is based on observations, photo documentation, notes during group discussions, follow-up questionnaires among the students and reflections among involved researchers.

Syftet med denna undersökning är att undersöka om korta moment inspirerade av problembaserat lärande under uppstarten av en längre kurs på högskolenivå kan förbättra förutsättningarna för lärande, inom det naturvetenskapliga ämnet och designämnet. För att undersöka frågeställningen genomfördes en enkätundersökning med studenter på Textilingenjörsprogrammet och Textildesignprogrammet på Textilhögskolan i Borås. Textilingenjörerna hade under inledningen av en längre kurs i Polymerteknologi ett introduktionsmoment där studenterna fick en konsumentprodukt tilldelad. Under inledningen av designprojekt hade studenterna på Textildesignprogrammet workshops där de arbetade individuellt eller i grupp. Uppgiften handlade om att utveckla en lösning för skyddad sömn vid en utsatt nödsituation eller att konstruera vävbindningar med hjälp av sin kropp. Enkätundersökningen visade att de flesta som deltagit i introduktionsmomentet av textil-ingenjörerna tyckte att det kändes stimulerande att gruppen själv styrde projektets genomförande vilket inte riktigt alla på textildesignprogrammet höll med om. Här hade man velat ha mer handledning under workshopen. Textilingenjörsstudenterna uppgav i enkäten att introduktionsmomentet hade avgörande betydelse för intresset av hela kursen medan textildesignstudenterna uppgav att introduktionsmomentet inte var lika avgörande för intresset under den fortsatta kursen. Slutligen visade enkätundersökningen att textilingenjörerna i högre grad ville se mer av studentcentrerat lärande utan lärarstyrning.

The thesis aims at developing conceptual and methodological tools in order to adapt sound in a “designerly” way within the discipline textile design. Occupational groups working with sound are to a large extent problem driven. This implies knowledge regarding sound and sound design mostly focuses on defensive strategies, not creative possibilities. The ambition with this research project is to make suggestions how textile designers can work practically with textile sound design, in a more nuanced way. /br As a starting point the thesis describes commonly used methods and processes used in the design process within an industrial context, followed by a more thorough analyze of the textile design process. These studies constitute a foundation to make it possible to see in what way these methods and processes will be affected when sound is added as new design tool./br By studies of two sound design models, the first attempts to develop a vocabulary concerning how to describe sound affecting qualities or sound expression of a textile are presented. Research focusing on language issues, especially on the development of conceptual tools done at the research institute Cresson, provides descriptive concepts, “sound effects”, embracing the interaction between human and his sound environment. These concepts are followed by a model of how to describe a “sound object” in “itself” (not in relation to anything else), developed by Pierre Schaeffer./br The theoretical models have been applied on the outcome of an phenomenological study named Describe. A number of design examples are finally presented as methodological examples of different ways to work with textiles and sound./br Keywords: sound, design, textile design, sound effect, sound object.

Part of workshop with Barbara Lane (Canada) in Borås 18 feb 2008 with weaving and LED lights

Paper "Textile microphone elements" and oral presentation at the conference on the 23 of June 2008.

This thesis aims at developing conceptual and methodological tools in order to adapt sound within the textile design area. Occupational groups working with sound are to a large extent problem driven. Accordingly, textile designers working with sound- affecting properties of textiles concentrate on their dampening qualities. The ambition with this research project is to make suggestions how textile designers can work practically with textile sound design, in a more nuanced way. The overall aim of the thesis is to develop a vocabulary to make textile designers able to express the sound affecting qualities of textiles in a language full of nuances. As a starting-point the thesis briefl y describes commonly used methods and processes used to describe the expressiveness of a design, followed by a more thoroughly analyze of the textile design process illustrated by a practical example. These studies constitute a foundation to make it possible to see in what way these methods and processes will be affected when sound is added as new design tool. By studies of two sound design models, the fi rst attempts to develop a vocabulary concerning how to describe sound affecting qualities of a textile are developed. Research focusing on language issues, especially on the development of conceptual tools done at the research institute CRESSON, provides descriptive sound concepts, “sound effects”, embracing the interaction between human and his sound environment. These concepts are followed by a model of how to describe just a sound or “sound object” in “itself” (not in relation to anything else), developed by Pierre Schaeffer. These theoretical models have been complemented with empirical studies in form of a survey, named LISTEN. Interviews were performed from a phenomenological perspective. A number of informants were asked to tell about the sound environment and single sounds occurring at their working places. The interviews were interpreted from a phenomenographic perspective. A number of design projects are fi nally presented as practical examples of different ways to work with textiles and sound. The theoretical models provided by Schaeffer have been used to make the fi rst systematic attempts to describe sound environments; sounds and textiles sound affecting properties. Since the model presented by Schaeffer is developed to be used within musical composition the concepts have to be additionally modifi ed to be a useful tool within the textile design area. The thesis presents just the fi rst attempts to use this model. The next step to take in the research project is to adjust the theoretical systems of CRESSON and Schaeffer to suit the special area of textile design. The interactive ideas of a sound-affecting textile will also be a subject of further development.

Part of the exhibition Body and Space, Riga Latvia February 14- March 4 2008. Oral presentation concerning my research February 15 2008.

In this paper we describe a set of sound sensitive structures based on piezoelectric technique. We have laminated piezoelectric polymer films between layers of different textile fabric structures. The initial results show that these structures register sound and the signal quality depends on the laminate set-up. Textile sound structures offer a variety of possible applications such as active sound absorbers and heart rate monitoring.