The strongest, lightest, most flexible, most “intelligent” and safest. These were the criteria adopted by Matilda McQuaid for the ambitious exhibition “Extreme Textiles”. Ambitious because not only does it aim to show us the vastness and variety of the applications of new textiles obtained through scientific and engineering developments but also shares with us the intrinsic beauty of even the most technical of them.

These characteristics make the exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt – that presents over 150 “extreme” fabrics used in architecture, clothing, medicine, transport, aerospace industry and environment – an important source of inspiration in developing new approaches to the many variations of industrial design. Alongside Marlow SuperLine, the rope that can hold up to 2,000 tonnes to intelligent fabrics from the American army’s Warrior Programme, the latest developments in textile accessories used in medicine and the prototype of the space bag from the space probe that landed on Mars. L.M.

New York – U.S.A.
Extreme Textiles. Designing for High Performance
Until 30.10.2005
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
2 East 91 Street
T +1-212-8498400
https://www.cooperhewitt.org