“Textile Architecture” is a project supported by two Dutch architects within the Romanian Design Week. Freyke Hartemink and Aura Luz Melis are the two promoters of a live installation meant to show the live ingredients of a true handcraft. Such an intimate view on the making process definitely gives a new perspective and therefore new creative paths. Carpets were created within a live happening – adding new colors, new materials and reinterpreted Romanian traditional motifs – in order to bring a new perception of the space.

I sat down with Freyke and Aura Luz for a short conversation on this wonderful happening. Here you have some first-hand insights:

The main benefit of this life design project

“You can make visible the value of the making. You can learn a lot about the process, as you visualize all the stages. It is not only important to focus on the end result, but also on what it really means to make something. There are so many decisions you need to make along the way. It is not only about doing something, but also about the thinking process that hides behind. There is a constant connection between mind and hands. We revalue the handcraft, in this case the Romanian one. We think it it important to keep the traditional handcraft on the spotlight and learn from it.” / Aura Luz Melis
“In lots of cases, the making process of such traditional handcraft shows you the ingredients and makes you think again about how to interpret it within the modern times. Somehow, it puts a new perspective and generates new things. You can only make new things if you understand the old ones.” / Freyke Hartemink

Characterize the women doing this kind of work, having this kind of talent

“They love what they do, they are what they do. This is kind of a meditating process. They are always looking at threads and, from time to time, they stop and reevaluate they work. They decide with their hands on every thread. It is not about a standard procedure, but an ongoing dialogue.” / Freyke Hartemink

The important of the textile in the final design result

“We are both architects and we are used to working with concrete, steel and other materials. We are interested in going beyond the curtains of the fabric in order to design an experience, to design a story.”/ Freyke Hartemink
“It is the technical qualities like acoustics or light transmission that add to the final design. For example here we are making screens that put lights through the threads and create a play of light and shadows on the walls. We put a frame to this space.” / Aura Luz Melis