“Architecture borrows from crafts such as pleating and weaving,” write curators Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen in the introduction to Art Applied (2024), a comprehensive overview of the work of Petra Blaisse and her design studio Inside Outside. Blaisse focuses on the interplay between inside and outside. “I have been working on the emancipation of the curtain for more than 35 years,” she says. Her intuitive approach seeks to orchestrate and valorise architecture through movement. With her experimental textile applications, she has acquired a unique position in architecture. Her striking interventions have given many buildings, by OMA and others, a striking appearance.

Transdisciplinary collaborations between architects and textile designers enrich architecture. They broaden the horizons of the work of architects and designers and explore different statuses and dimensions of textiles. Soft textile architecture influences the affective qualities of the inhabited space. Designing for an architectural context encourages experimentation and technical innovation. For many years, the textile duo Chevalier-Masson has been working with Belgian and foreign architectural firms such as 51N4E, Baukunst and Bruther. The fabrics of Anne Masson and Eric Chevalier are an integral part of the success of their buildings.