TEXTILES HUB – Textiles Heuristic Understanding in Buildings - The role of experimental research in the design process of membrane-based structures

The essay deals with the innovative use of textile materials in architecture and argues that experimental research is nowadays a method to reduce arbitrariness in the description of scientific phenomena and to play creatively with the limits of na-ture. This mainly occurs when the design process involves unconventional materi-als - such as textiles and polymers for structural applications - or other lightweight materials, for which technological transfer from other application sectors to the building one is still ongoing. Furthermore the paper underlines the importance of being aware of the weight of so-called “textile architecture”, in order to evaluate its degree of efficiency. The authors discuss the opportunity to apply multidisciplinary design approaches, coming from this significant weight awareness through experi-mental knowledge.