Living in the times of air conditioning, we tend to forget that 100 years ago, textiles used to reflect the changing seasons. No matter where you paid a visit – to a palace, an estate or a cottage house – you would find portières, back supports, and curtains everywhere.
Using textiles in design to stimulate seasonal thinking is the main topic of the exhibition presented at the London Design Biennale 2021. The Clothed Home: Tuning In To the Seasonal Imagination was created by curator Aleksandra Kędziorek, together with Alicja Bielawska, who specialises in spatial installations with the use of fabrics, as well as with the architects and architecture researchers Małgorzata Kuciewicz and Simone de Iacobis, of the CENTRALA design group. Let’s ask them about the rituals connected with textiles, the art of weaving, the significance of colour and texture, and developing the architectural imagination.