The interactive textile sculpture INSIDE/OUTSIDE questions the borders of the body through material form and movement. The form suggest and instructs the choreography and becomes a co-choreographer pushing the narrative further and opening up for interaction between bodies through its materiality. Exhibited at Skövde Art museum, 17 jan - 3 march 2019.

This paper suggests shifting the focus from a visual aesthetic of the body to an aesthetics emerging form the experience of wearing. Historically the aesthetics of wearing has been mainly concerned with visual aspects of body; how dress looks on you/make your body look rather than how it feels and what it does with you. Building further on the notion somatic garment as introduced by Sally E Dean (2011) and somatic style as defined by Shusterman (2012) the project addresses the experience of wearing and its effect on our emotional state and as bodily aesthetics. It is a practical exploration contributing to a theoretical discussion. The findings result from an interdisciplinary study intersecting fashion design and choreography, explored through interactive installations and performances developed over the course of 2 years. In 4 performances, 4 workshops and 3 exhibitions nationally and internationally the tactile and informing potential of wearing has been investigated. The results suggest a particular kind of wear-thinking that affects the body aesthetics through how it imposes movement patterns, positioning, tempo and emotions and through this it affects not only the emotional state of mind body also the appearance of the body. In the study, movements that create well-being, presence and relaxation was enabled with help of the interactive installation.

Examples:

Interactive form exhibited at festival:

https://youtu.be/enaPeIRiELU

Performance: https://youtu.be/9SHC6zRA6TA

Presently, digitalisation has moved beyond a desktop paradigm to one of ubiquitous computing; by introducing new possibilities and dynamic materials to various design fields, e.g. product design and architecture, it allows future spaces to be envisioned. Prior to being incorporated in the housing of the future, however, the hybrid character of computational materials raises questions with regard to the development of the appropriate design methods to allow them to be used in the production of space. Thus, merging physical and digital attributes in the material design process and expression not only enables a better understanding of materials through design, but also requires a cross-disciplinary methodology to be articulated in order to allow different perspectives on e.g. material, interaction, and architecture to interweave in the design process. Based on a practice-based research methodology, this paper proposes a cross-disciplinary framework where the notion of temporal scalability – enabled by the character of computation as a design material – is discussed in relation to form and material in architecture. The framework is illustrated by two different design examples, Repetition and Tactile Glow, and the methods behind their creation – merging time, material, and surface aesthetics – are discussed.

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.

The design of woven and knitted structures can be compared with the formation of buildings’ facades and constructions. However, textile designers do not generally participate when the exterior structure and facades of a building take shape, but rather when textiles and materials for the indoor environment are chosen, often with the intention of enhancing the acoustic qualities of spaces. In this research project, two architects and a textile designer collaborate, the latter focusing particularly on sound design. Incorporating textile designers in the early stages of building projects can lead to benefits of exploring and improving sound landscapes in outdoor environments. 

In order to search for and develop new approaches, methods and techniques in the field described as textile architecture, textile facade modules were designed and produced, and the design process was examined and evaluated from the points of departure of the two design fields. Questions such as ‘who is actually prototyping?’ arose, as well as the search for finding common references and concepts, both historical and contemporary, to strengthen the collaborative work. 

A practice-based experimental approach was important for the project and the merger of the two design fields, not least to put different textile techniques and materials to the test to examine how they can affect the sound landscape and experiences of space. The key activities in the laboratory work were technique, method, perception, stage-setting and context, which connected both to textile design and architecture. The different textile materials were chosen to comply with the requirements of external climate impact and rough outdoor environments. In groups of demarcated design experiments, the textile techniques of weaving and hand tufting were explored, and the modules were tested acoustically. 

The ocular-centric approach predominant in the field of design, particularly textile and spatial design, focuses on visual aesthetics and visually mediated interactions. Whereas the non-visual materialities of a space, such as smells, are ignored in the design process, meaning that interior spaces with homogenously odourless environments lack interactions with the olfactory. However, multi-sensorial experiences are crucial to creating a holistic perception of an environment. The aim of this thesis is to investigate smell as a design material for spatial design. This research has been carried out using experimental design research methods, with the theoretical framework connecting smell as a design material to textiles and spatial and interaction design. Addition, modulation and subtraction of smells through textile surfaces and micro-climatic spatial zones have been investigated. Interactions with smells were explored through different modes of activation and dispersion of smells on two different scales; spatially near to body and far from body. The research findings show that atmospheric parameters play an important role in the detectability of smells, in that air flow carries smells and distributes them in a space. Humidity holds smell molecules in the air, and at higher temperatures smell molecules are extremely volatile and dynamic in their movements. Textiles have demonstrated to be good absorber of smells, and are breathable materials with regard to designing with plants and synthetic micro-encapsulated smells to create an olfactive dimension in spaces.These results have an implication for the design of spatial olfactive diversity and olfactory interactions, in that it is possible to disperse smells that are designed to transition from discrete to ambient, or vice versa. Interior textiles can be designed with the expressions of smells that add an olfactive dimension in addition to colours, patterns, and textures. The research presented in this thesis opens up for further interdisciplinary research with regard to developing the novel material systems proposed in this thesis – smell absorbers, dividers, and reflectors – which are responsive to existing smells and atmospheric parameters. Olfactory interactions have important applications from two perspectives: firstly, in relation to subjective and individual connections to people, places, and events; secondly, with regard to providing information about the near environment that is comprehended through the olfactory, in addition to being perceived by the other senses. Therefore, spatial olfactory interactions are essential to (re)connect human to the environment in which they live and work. These interactions in the real physical world are slow and analogue in nature, in comparison to fast digital lifestyles; smells can improve feelings of social connectedness, improving wellbeing.

Designing with non-visual attributes challenges ways of representation. This research explores methods for designing with invisible materiality within the research practice, as well as ways of representation through textiles when designing spaces. Exploring textiles and smells within a space, the research program investigates spatial interactions.

This research focuses on designing embodied experiences using tangible materials as expressions of smells. Through the spatial installations and performances Sight of smell, Touch of smell, and Smell, space, and body movement, haptics were explored as one of the methods of interaction with smells through textiles.

Through the sense of touch, this research also investigates ways of revealing, activating, and disseminating smells within a space. Smells were purposely added through the methods of dyeing, coating, and printing to the textile materials that did not inherently embody any smells, As a result, tactile surfaces create non-visual expressions of smell. Further ideas of research in this area would explore another perspective of designing with smells in spaces. As an example, by designing textiles being smell absorbers, dividers, and re ectors, could compliment the spatial concepts and deals with the already existing smells in a living environment.

In this licentiate thesis thinking through the olfactive dimension to design textiles is not only novel for the textile design eld; but also, its proposal for application in the spatial design is quite unique, and o ers a new dimension for spatial design. 

Light enables us to experience space. The distribution of light is vital for spatial experience but has not been the main focus of previous research on lighting. The lighting designer’s professional knowledge is to a great extent experience-based and tacit. With design practice as the point of departure, this thesis aims to explore spatiality and enclosure in relation to the distribution of light – with the intention of increasing subjects’ understanding of what can be regarded as a space, and to show how spaces can be shaped by the distribution of light. By focusing on users’ experiences and interpretations, relationships between the distribution of light and perceived spatial dimensions and experienced spatial atmosphere have been investigated. The main contribution of this thesis is to widen the base of knowledge that lighting designers, architects and customers can use as a common reference. This thesis is based on three studies: the Scale Model Study, the Auditorium Study and the Church Park Study. The thesis includes concept- and method development. The mixed methodologies comprise a range from introspective phenomenological observations to deep interviews and questionnaires. The experimental setups have also shifted from scale models to real-life interior and exterior settings. Consequently, a quantitative approach has complemented the mainly qualitative approach. Through artistically based research, patterns and relationships are dealt with in complex real spaces. The findings of these studies lead to a discussion of when, why and how patterns of brightness and darkness influence spatial perceptions of dimensions. The findings also show that brightness not only contributes to our experiencing a space as more spacious than it really is, but in certain situations brightness can actually have the reverse effect. Furthermore, darkness can contribute to a spacious impression, which has hardly been discussed in previous research. What subjects regard as a space may shift between the clearly defined physical space and the perceived space, which include light zones. Light zones can create a sense of inclusion or exclusion for subjects, which affects their sense of community and their feeling of safety. Light topography, e.g. the height of luminaire positions, as well as light direction influence the way we experience the private and the public. Enclosure can, if related to visible spatial boundaries, facilitate reassurance and safety.

The past decades of research on color and light yielded vast knowledge supporting their informed use in architectural design. While there currently exists a rich body of knowledge and methods geared to affect the perception of depth and form in tiled, opaque architectural surfaces, not many such methods have been developed for double-curved, transparent, in-mass colored surfaces. The perception of depth and form in these surfaces relies on a complex blend of parameters, such as color combinations, illumination source, angle of viewing, location of shadows and reflections, material thickness and grade of transparency. To determine the visual effects caused by some of these parameters, experiments based on visual observations were carried out involving handcrafted, in-mass colored, undulant architectural surfaces. The insights from the experiments then served to develop four color strategies for architectural surface design harnessing the discovered effects in diverse ways. Through this, the study has sought first to observe and understand the effects of color and light in perceiving undulant surfaces, and second to highlight the potentials of harnessing these effects in the design of expressive architectural elements. The main insight from the study is that informed and deliberate application of color and light yields a wide range of potentially interesting perceptual effects in double-curved architectural surfaces, such as spatial filtering, gradient screening, vibrant massing and animate reshaping. Such effects, applied in an architectural context, can help to fulfill the demand for physical environmental enrichment in the digital era.

In this architectural research exploration, we challenge the notion of an interactive architectural surface as single-layered, two-dimensional interaction interface. Instead, we propose the notion of Interactive Voluminous Substance, which moves the interaction experience into four dimensions, shifting it from far-field, proximity-based interaction to a near-field, tactile one. We present four features of architectural expression that could potentially sustain the embodiment of this Substance: spatial positioning, geometry, expression, hybrid material composition and interaction design. If the future architectural interiors and exteriors are made from Voluminous Architectural Substance, how will it be to dwell with them? We propose two physical prototypes and two interaction stories as speculative objects probing this question.

The Pliant Flesh is a piece built up with a semi-firm body onto which two layers of thinner skins are attached with electronics in between. Pressing hands onto it, it will answer pliantly however with some resistance being experienced as firm but not completely stiff. When touched the piece reacts with small vibrations and lights. The vibrations and lights are then spreading out following their own pattern. 

In the Pliant Flesh the electronics are partially visible pointing out that architecture and the technology of a building could be merged and respond to peoples actions. The piece materializes questions on what it is to experience this hybridity. The black Pliant Flesh is a complementary work to the yellow greenish piece Soft Body.

The bowels of the piece are soft with encapsulated electronics that are enclosed by a silicon skin. When pressing hands onto it the hands sink into the body. From deep within there is a respond to the pressure of the hands, slow gentle vibrations of the inner building up interaction patterns that define the tangibility. 

In the Soft Body the electronics are hidden and not clearly located. This fact together with the sense of a highly responsive and fluid material brings the Soft Body far away from what we are used to encounter within architecture of today. The piece materializes questions on what it is to experience highly tactile architecture with material and interaction inner substance and corporal connotation.