Hella Jongerius transforms Lafayette Anticipations into a "Space Loom"
24/08/2019.
[PAR] France Francia
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
Space Loom is the new creation by Jongeriuslab design studio, using the moving platforms of Lafayette Anticipations building as the actual structure of a monumental loom.
The Dutch studio, lead by Hella Jongerius designer, warps threads more than 16m long are hung in the "sky" of the Foundation, in the Marais, Paris. Each of these threads is unique, designed one by one by the Jongeriuslab.
The Dutch studio, lead by Hella Jongerius designer, warps threads more than 16m long are hung in the "sky" of the Foundation, in the Marais, Paris. Each of these threads is unique, designed one by one by the Jongeriuslab.
Hella Jongerius, research for the Seamless Loom. Photograph by Roel van Tour
Hella Jongerius, research for the Seamless Loom. Photograph by Roel van Tour
Hella Jongerius, research for the Seamless Loom. Photograph by Roel van Tour
Hella Jongerius, research for the Seamless Loom. Photograph by Roel van Tour
Hella Jongerius, research for the Seamless Loom. Photograph by Roel van Tour
Hella Jongerius, research for the Seamless Loom. Photograph by Roel van Tour
Hella Jongerius, research for the Seamless Loom. Photograph by Roel van Tour
Hella Jongerius, research for the Seamless Loom. Photograph by Roel van Tour
Hella Jongerius, research for the Seamless Loom. Photograph by Roel van Tour
Hella Jongerius, research for the Seamless Loom. Photograph by Roel van Tour
Hella Jongerius, research for the Seamless Loom. Photograph by Roel van Tour
Hella Jongerius, research for the Seamless Loom. Photograph by Roel van Tour
Hella Jongerius, research for the Seamless Loom. Photograph by Roel van Tour
The Dutch designer creates a gigantic textile laboratory, installed in the atrium of the foundation's building, where from small platforms, weavers intertwine weft yarns, as musiciens playing on a huge instrument.
Jongeriuslab displays to the public the research, experimentation, tools and materials that lie behind creating a fabric and turnined the four-storey space into a textile studio that is open to the public to view. Little by little, over the course of three months, the weavers the weft threads form spheres, volumes and patterns which going take shape within the tower’s vertical space.
Jongeriuslab displays to the public the research, experimentation, tools and materials that lie behind creating a fabric and turnined the four-storey space into a textile studio that is open to the public to view. Little by little, over the course of three months, the weavers the weft threads form spheres, volumes and patterns which going take shape within the tower’s vertical space.
Interlace, textile research is an evolutive exhibition showcasing live research and production on the theme of weaving. Throughout the three months of the exhibition, three looms—the Space Loom, the Seamless Loom, and the digital TC2 loom—are activated by a range of professional designers working at, or invited by Jongeriuslab.
The topic of weaving is treated not only as a craft with a long history, but also as a technical, thematic, and critical enquiry; a vehicle for cultural innovation. For three months, research and experiments in 3D and digital weaving are filling Lafayette Anticipations’ spaces both vertically and horizontally, turning them into a designer’s laboratory, all the while questioning our relationship to textile, tactility, labour, and the natural environment, and the limited vocabulary we have to describe these relationships.
The topic of weaving is treated not only as a craft with a long history, but also as a technical, thematic, and critical enquiry; a vehicle for cultural innovation. For three months, research and experiments in 3D and digital weaving are filling Lafayette Anticipations’ spaces both vertically and horizontally, turning them into a designer’s laboratory, all the while questioning our relationship to textile, tactility, labour, and the natural environment, and the limited vocabulary we have to describe these relationships.
Hella Jongerius
The originality of this loom lies not only in its monumentality but also in its design. Usually the warp yarns are regular and it is the weft yarns that create the patterns in the textile: here Hella Jongerius has reversed the ancestral hierarchy of the loom.
"The reason why the Space Loom is so large is because it responds to the question of scale and to how to inhabit the verticality of the building, and because the building's architecture is essentially a machine, it made sense to use it as a weaving machine, a loom."
Hella Jongerius
The loom forms part of an exhibition called Interlace, Textile Research that explores how we consider textiles in our daily lives, as well as the implications of its production and consumption.
"Textile" and "text" both relate to the latin verb tessere, which means "to weave". Thus Space Loom is a machine that weaves letters, offering the chance to literally develop a textile language in order to communicate about tactility and surfaces. The objects invite the viewer to "close reading" of the surface to define the notion of affective and aesthetic quality.
More information
Author
Hella Jongerius
Venue
Fondation d'entreprise Galeries Lafayette. Lafayette Anticipations. 9, rue du Plâtre, 75004 - Paris, France
Dates
Exhibition from June 7 to September 8, 2019
Hella Jongerius
Hella Jongerius, (born in 1963) has become known for the manner in which she fuses industry and craft, high- and low-tech, traditional and contemporary.
After graduating from Eindhoven Design Academy in 1993, she founded the Jongeriuslab studio, where she has pursued independent projects and also created products for major clients, including Maharam (New York), KLM, Kvadrat rugs and Royal Tichelaar Makkum (Netherlands), Ikea (Sweden) and Vitra (Basel). She has been the Art Director for colours and materials at Vitra for many years.
Hella Jongerius leads on the same front fundamental research and industrial developments. A little more than two years ago, she wrote with Louise Schouwenberg a manifesto entitled Beyond the New which conspired frenetic desire for novelty in production, highlighting the need for common reference to fragile know-how, in ethical and societal considerations. This text but also the entire career of Hella Jongerius has a considerable influence on younger generations of creators.
Works by Hella Jongerius have been shown at museums and galleries such as Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and MoMA (New York), Design Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum (London), Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam), Moss Gallery (New York) and Galerie kreo (Paris). In 2017 Hella Jongerius was awarded the Sikkens Prize.
After graduating from Eindhoven Design Academy in 1993, she founded the Jongeriuslab studio, where she has pursued independent projects and also created products for major clients, including Maharam (New York), KLM, Kvadrat rugs and Royal Tichelaar Makkum (Netherlands), Ikea (Sweden) and Vitra (Basel). She has been the Art Director for colours and materials at Vitra for many years.
Hella Jongerius leads on the same front fundamental research and industrial developments. A little more than two years ago, she wrote with Louise Schouwenberg a manifesto entitled Beyond the New which conspired frenetic desire for novelty in production, highlighting the need for common reference to fragile know-how, in ethical and societal considerations. This text but also the entire career of Hella Jongerius has a considerable influence on younger generations of creators.
Works by Hella Jongerius have been shown at museums and galleries such as Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and MoMA (New York), Design Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum (London), Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam), Moss Gallery (New York) and Galerie kreo (Paris). In 2017 Hella Jongerius was awarded the Sikkens Prize.
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