As we walked the booths, we drew on our knowledge of the Bauhaus. Textiles are part of the inner circle of the school’s curriculum wheel. And scaled garment production processes are born of industrial design.

The Bauhaus came into being in response to the industrial revolution. Their curriculum was centered on learning how to design manufactured products that did not lose the sense of the materials they came from. And to design a product by allowing its function to guide its form. ‘The process is one of interaction and mutuality. It is the organization of materials and processes in the productive, economic way, in a harmonious balance of all elements necessary for a certain function. ‘ (L. Moholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, p 35, 45)

‘With increased knowledge and new findings the industrial revolution today enters a new phase.’ Bauhaus instructor László Moholy-Nagy’s words written in 1946 still ring true today. (L. Moholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, p 48)

#design #dev #functionalfabricfair

“Work at CAST generally begins with relatively small physical models made with “analog” materials (plaster to model concrete, paper or plastic sheets to model sheet metal, etc,). These models allow us to play with combinations of materials, tools, and processes, and to think about how the forms and ideas found might be extended to full-scale design and construction. This method relies on the “intelligence” of the materials themselves for clues to the architectural potential they may hold.”   C.A.S.T. website

His vivid descriptions of beginning with small scale models parallel our initial work of creating samples which does allow ‘the intelligence of the fabric’ to guide us in design and construction of garments.

Halston understood this innate intelligence saying, “The fabric will teach you, the fabric tells you what it wants to do.’

You just have to pay attention.

More about Mark West’s work:

http://unit03-metamorphosis.blogspot.com/2013/01/mark-west-cast.html