The Pliable Plane; Textiles in Architecture

Author(s): Anni Albers

Source: Perspecta , 1957, Vol. 4 (1957), pp. 36-41
Published by: The MIT Press on behalf of Perspecta.

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1566855

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ANNI ALBERS THE PLIABLE PLANE; TEXTILES IN ARCHITECTURE

Mrs. Atnni Albers is known for her work in size: the minimum tent.

the field of textiles as an artist, a designer for In a life of wandering, not only what is carried has
industrial production, a lecturer and teacher. to be portable, but the means for carrying things
Born in Berlin, Germany, she started her art have to be found and developed. A string that
training in Berlin and Hamburg and later became holds a bundle together, or a group of strings
a student at the Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau forming a net or bag are direct ancestors to our
where she met her husband Josef Albers. From air-luggage today. The textile material, pliable and
1933-49 she was assistant professor of art at lightweight, is of utmost efficiency in transit. It is
Black Mountain College and since then has been interesting to observe that our carrying cases with
doing freelance work as well as lecturing at a need for decreasing weight in fast travel are be-
museums and universities. Her work has been coming again more and more a mere bag of cloth.
shown and collected by leading museums, amongBut from a string or a connected group of strings
them the Museum of Modern Art in New York. to a fabric, a long history of inventions passed. In
distant history it may well have been the use of
hides that challenged the inventive minds to fabri-
If the nature of architecture is the grounded, the cate a counterpart. Through thousands of years of
fixed, the permanent, then textiles are its very textile experimentation, however, nature's remark-
antithesis. If, however, we think of the process able of model still stands unsurpassed in many of its
building and the process of weaving and compare practical aspects. But in the course of develop-
the work involved, we will find similarities despite ment the resulting "fabrics" have taken on char-
the vast difference in scale. Both construct a whole acteristics that belong to them alone and which,
from separate parts that retain their identity, a in turn, perform in various ways better than the
manner of proceeding, fundamentally different original example supplied by nature.
from that of working metal, for instance, or clay, Initial attempts must have been concerned main-
where parts are absorbed into an entity. This basic ly with thread construction. In fact, excavations
difference, however, has grown less clearly definedin the last decade in northern Peru brought to light
as new methods, affecting both building and weav- innumerable small pieces of cloth that seem useless
ing, are developing and are adding increasingly toin their limited size unless understood as structural
fusion as opposed to linkage. experiments. The earliest specimens show textile
Both are ancient crafts, older even than pottery ortechniques other than weaving, but gradually weav-
metal work. In early stages they had in common ing evolved and finally took over. It is interesting
the purpose of providing shelter, one for a settled in this connection to observe that in ancient myths
life, the other for a life of wandering, a nomadicfrom many parts of the world it was a goddess, a
life. To this day they are characterized by thefemale deity, who brought the invention of weav-
traits that made them suited to these two different
ing to mankind. When we realize that weaving is
tasks, obvious in the case of building, obscured,primarily a process of structural organization this
more or less, in that of textiles. Since the obvious thought is startling, for today thinking in terms of
hardly needs to be examined, let us turn to the lessstructure seems closer to the inclination of men
evident.
than women. A reason may have been that men as
When we move about, we carry with us, above all hunters supplied the skins of animals and that
else, the clothes we wear and these have alwayswomen as gatherers had pass through their hands
been of material, textile in its nature, if not actual-along with berries and roots, textile raw material
ly a textile. We can recognize in leaves and bark in the form of reeds, vines and grasses. Later, with
and especially in hides and furs, prototypes ofweaving traditions established, embellishing as one
fabric and it is their use as our secondary skin,of the weaver's tasks moved to the foreground and
either in their paleolithic or their transposedthus the feminine role in it has become natural in
form, that has made us independent of place, hourour eyes. Regardless of speculation as to origin, we
and season, in the remote past as today. know that it has taken generation after generation
In our early history, such independence surelyto perfect a method of interlacing threads that has
brought on a further immediate need, that for a proved in the course of time so potent in possibili-
transportable shelter. The same type of material ties. What we should bear in mind here is the
which proved so suited for clothing was also ap- specific quality of textiles in regard to flexibility,
propriate here, a material that was pliable above pliability, and their high degree of performance
all other characteristics and therefore easily port- relative to their weight, before taking up the part
able. Hides stretched over poles were an efficient they play aesthetically.
solution for this problem of shelter, for such aFrom the first shelter of hides to the latest tent for
material, when expanded, could shed water, hold camping in peace as in war, the idea of a trans-
off the wind and give shade. In transit it could be portable, and therefore lightweight house has
folded, that is reduced to a fraction of its extendedremained essentially the same. The walls are of

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 Perspecta Four 37

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 38 A nni A lhers

Frieda Larsen
: David Royter

I ...

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 Perspecta Four 39

non-rigid, non-supporting material, a material of look at our bed with its sheets and blankets as a
textile character if not a textile itself, a material sort of clothing extension.
that can easily be fastened to supports. Wherever In general then, except for some of our clothes,
provisional quarters have to be built speedily and textiles have taken on an indoor existence. Their
independent of local material, the textile house, protective duties have changed. Instead of keeping
the tent, is the answer because of the inherent off the wind, they now may keep the sun from in-
characteristic of cloth that one might call it its
side the house, and important today in a crowded
nomadic nature. (The felt-lined tents, the yurts,world, protect the privacy of the inhabitants. They
used as houses in Outer Mongolia, can be dis- still give warmth, on floors for instance, and may
mantled in fifteen minutes, so The New York Times
give insulation from drafts as curtains-functions
of October 21, 1956 reports.) losing importance with improved building condi-
Shelter is perhaps the most vital use, besides cloth-
tions. On the other hand they are taking on new
ing, that has been made of this pliable, quasi two- tasks like sound-absorption, a problem growing
dimensional material. This two-dimensionality has
with a noisier world. In fact, we ask of our fabrics
played a major part in the making of textiles. more diversified services than ever before. Today
Length never created a serious problem, whilewe may want them to be light-reflecting, even
width on the other hand had to be solved byfluorescent, crease-resistant or permanently pleated
various inventions. Thinness of fabric, linked with
and have such invisible qualities as being water-
lightness, is still a concern of weavers. repellent, fast-drying, non-shrinking, dust-shed-
A further quality of cloth or of its antecedents ding, spot-resistant and mildew-proof, to name
should be added to our list: its ability to keep usonly a few. We are witnessing today an acceleration
warm, its non-conducting quality. Insulation is one
of textile progress not even remotely resembling
of the performances of fabrics that is clearly ap-any other in history. Strangely, advances are not
parent in clothing. due to any improvements in weaving itself, that is
If a first need for textiles came with a need for to new inventions of thread interlacing. Here we
clothing and shelter, their use changed with can actually see a regression. The impressive textile
changing needs, one might say with the develop- development at present is almost entirely due to
ment of needs. Though they still protect us today new chemical processes that bring us new fibers
against the weather in the form of clothes in our and finishes. In constant succession we find an-
regular settled form of life, they no longer providenouncements of new textile materials and treat-
us with shelter except in our spells of nomadism, ments that " ... ize" our fabrics, from the al-
as tourists or warriors. With the discontinuance ofready classic "sanforize" to a surprising "sanitize"
this one major function textiles moved indoors, in- - self-explanatory - to an occasional absurdity
side our habitations. If we recall the attributes we such as "heavenize" riding the wave of the day's
have given them: insulating, pliable, transportable, "... ize" promises.
relatively light-weight, all of these have been andBut though these new qualities, often not visually
still are active, as they were outdoors, in the in- apparent, show where the concentration of present
teriors of houses all over the world throughout thetextile progress lies, the traditional, visual qualities
centuries. But with their relaxed duties, that is, no usually carry greater weight in the mind of the
longer having to guard our life, they have accumu- public, at least when concerned with settled life. A
lated more and more functions that belong to an-fabric is largely chosen because it is red, for in-
other realm-aesthetic functions. These, in time, stance, and often regardless of whether equipped
have moved so much to the foreground that today with other virtues, in preference to one more
"decoration" has become for many the first and sensibly endowed for a specific situation but lack-
sometimes only reason for using fabrics. In "deco- ing such instantaneous, visual, appeal as that of
ration" we have an additive that we may well lookcolor.
at, if not skeptically, at least questioningly. When we revert to nomadism, however, as travel-
We can surmise that perhaps a parallel develop-lers, we are open to textile behavior as were our
ment, however faint, can be found in regard to distant forebearers, with this difference, that the
clothing. We still, in certain climates and at cer- dominant, mobile quality of fabrics through usage
tain seasons need clothes as urgently as did ourin thousands of years is lost in general to our
early ancestors. But with a sedentary life, withawareness, while we seek eagerly newly acquired
permanent, warm shelters, clothing is no longer a features, suited to our speed of travel. One dacron-
24 hour problem in any weather. We dress indoors cotton shirt, fast-drying, absorbent and shape-
for other reasons than solely as protection against retaining, may take us around the world.
the cold or heat. That we dress for aesthetic rea-
In our settled existence the character of mobility
sons among others, has been proved with the first in our fabrics is nevertheless manifest: as curtains
pretty figleaf. Perhaps we even can say that part ofthey are drawn open or closed, letting in light or
our protective covering has moved indoors if we shutting it out, thereby changing dramatically the

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40 Anni Albers

appearance of a room. As table mats or table cloths It is not abundance or sparsity of fabrics though,
they are put on and taken off again; as bedspreads that may date our interiors. It is as much the way
they are removed at night. They can be lifted, our fabrics are used. Today we have no time for
folded, carried, stored away and exchanged easily; frills: we hang our curtains from ceiling to floor
thus they bring a refreshing element of change in- in straight folds. Instead of decorative additaments
to the now immobile house. The very fact of mo- they thus become an integral architectural element,
bility makes them the carrier of extra aesthetic a counterpart to solid walls. Mies van der Rohe
values. A red wall may become threatening in the was one of the first to use them in this architectural
constancy of a high pitch, while red curtains of form. Le Corbusier, in a different way, incorpo-
equal color intensity and able to cover an equal rates textiles into an architectural scheme, using
area can be of great vitality and yet not over- them as enormous flat wall-panels, banners, that
powering because the red area can be varied by carry color and form and serve perhaps also as
drawing the curtain. The perishable nature of sound-absorbing flats. Above all they become a
fabrics, though in many respects a severe disad- focal point, as in the halls of his Indian High
vantage, turns into an advantage when a red fabric Court of Justice at Chandigarh.
can be replaced by a blue one for instance, more This is not an altogether new use. Large tapestries
easily than is possible with most other materials. have for centuries been used as pictorial walls and
Their perishability is often a welcome reason for rugs as pictorial floors, warming, but principally
change. That color, texture, draping quality, gloss centralizing our attention. A beautiful view, the
or dullness, etc. have become dominant as aesthet- flickering of a fire, the play of water, flowers, all
ic components is a logical development. That we serve as such a focal point. If man-made, it is only
also overdo our textile furnishings today in many art that is able to hold our interest any length of
instances is a residue, it seems, from temps perdus, time. There seems to be no real place for "almost
from periods in architecture less efficient than ours art": for embellishment and for ornamentation:
in providing controlled temperature. the elaborated detail. Perhaps it is the restlessness
Let us look closer. Let us assume someone is mov- of our manner of western living that has to be
achieved by a planned simplicity, a strong sub-
ing into quarters that today have those wires, pipes,
buttons, etc. that serve to light and heat, supplyordination of details to the overall conception of
an architectural plan. When we decorate we detract
with water or drain, cool and ventilate a place. Let
us suppose that blinds at the windows regulate theand distract.

Textiles themselves have responded to a large

light by day and guard the privacy by night. In
short, let us visualize it as ready to live in, once
degree to this keynote of calm by showing, instead
beds, chairs and tables, essentials to our western of mainly patterns, overall textural designs and
mind, have been moved in; a place that obviouslysolid colors. By introducing materials suited to
partitioning sections of interiors, they have con-
can function virtually without textiles. Neverthe-
tributed specifically to impressions of spaciousness
less, without them there will be a feeling of barren-
and lightness in our living areas, that is, to tran-
ness, even coldness, that can be justified in part
and partly perhaps is no more than a matter quility.
of Fabrics, however, could be incorporated
convention. What is missing through the lack of into the interior planning far beyond an occasional
fabrics is presumably something that is warm to partition. A museum, to give a large scale example,
the touch, quite possibly color, the soft playcould of set up textile panels instead of rigid ones, to
provide for the many subdivisions and back-
folds and the lustre of fuzz of fibers in contrast to
flat, hard, and cool surfaces. On the floor, or on grounds it needs. Such fabric walls could have
sections of it, we may miss a soft, sound-subduing varying degrees of transparency or be opaque, even
and warming covering, a carpet or rug, and at the light-reflecting. They could be interchanged easily
windows a light veil to keep out any glare and add with changing needs and would bring an intensified
to further privacy. note of airiness to a place. In ancient Japanese
If today, we would go about the task of choosing houses veil-like fabric panels were used to form
fabrics guided by a clear head before we become rooms and to allow the breeze to pass through.
engrossed in the spontaneous pleasures that color, (The Japanese movie "Gate of Hell" shows such
surface, and the "hand" of cloth give us, our rooms use in early times.)
would look uncluttered, spacious and serene. They The essentially structural principles that relate the
would look animated by those qualities of materials work of building and weaving could form the basis
that we know so intimately from wearing them: of a new understanding between the architect and
from their use next to our skin. And if we think of the inventive weaver. New uses of fabrics and new
clothing as a secondary skin we might enlarge on fabrics could result from a collaboration; and
this thought and realize that the enclosure of walls textiles, so often no more than an after-thought in
in a way is a third covering, that our habitation is planning might take place again as a contributing
another "habit". thought.

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 Perspecta Four 41

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