At first glance, textile materials and clay do not share many similarities. However, Oficina Penadés brings these two concepts together, showcasing the potential of a new textile-based material combined with clay processing techniques in “Looks like magic!”, an exhibition held during the recent Milan Design Week.
According to the designers:
It all began with an invitation from curator María Cristina Didero to hold my first solo exhibition in Italy. “Looks like magic!” is an exhibition showcasing my latest research project, developed in 2021, called Textile-clay. It took place at the “Casa dei Demoni” in the 5vie district during the recent Milan Design Week. Textile-clay is a new material made from textile waste and starch.
We began by collaborating with Telelavo, a startup that washes and processes textiles for various sectors, primarily restaurants and hotels. They provided us with lint: fibers collected from the filters of their industrial dryers after the spin cycle. This waste material is processed to become our raw material.
Starch is used as a binder. Typically, this material is used in the laundry industry to give fabrics a crisper finish once ironed. After mixing the raw material with this binder, we borrow various techniques and processes from the world of clay and ceramics to shape our pieces.
Textile-clay has two main advantages over traditional ceramics. First, we do not need to extract anything from the earth to create this new material; second, it has a very low energy footprint because it does not require high-temperature firing, glazing, and re-firing. Thanks to the water-based binder, once the desired shape is achieved, the piece only needs to dry for a certain period to become a fully functional object.
Author: Jorge Penadés.
Typology: new material.
Client: self-initiated.
Year: 2021.
Location: Milan, Italy.
Partners: 5vie, Telelavo.
Assistants: Jesús Carmona, Marion Jaouen, Antonius Dreier.
Photography: Max Creasy.
This article was written by Elías Barczuk Pasamán. The translation is powered by AI.
