The first crucial step in approaching two seemingly unrelated professions such as architecture and fashion is to understand that the basis of the works of both types of designers is the general concept of creation and the production of a craft. Approaching the topic historically, the model provided by Arab culture is the most explanatory of the dialogue between these two realities; visual art, extremely important for the identity of this ancient culture, is central to both the production of decorative architectural buildings and intricate textiles. Mosaics, carpets, silk fabrics and building decorations are all based on geometric drawings. For example, every room in the Alhambra in Granada is covered in tiling (method for covering a flat surface with one or more geometric figures repeated without duplication.) During the nineteenth century, with the birth of the Arts and Crafts movement, we encounter William Morris, the first player to enter the business as an interdisciplinary designer, influencing the architecture of his friend Philip Webb and creating prints for wallpapers, furnishing fabrics and fine cloths. Seven generations later, we have a similar story in the works of Elena Manferdini’s Atelier. She’s an engineer, architect and designer based in Bologna, Italy and Venice, California since 2003. From its inception, the atelier has merged architectural research with the development of new fabrics, materials and tailoring techniques, trying to connect their achievements both technically and visually. This concept is clearly explained in two of Manferdini’s projects, the West Coast Pavilion for the Venice Biennale of Architecture in Beijing in 2006, and the Cherry Blossom collection SS07. The objective of this experiment is to introduce the idea of mass production at the beginning of the design phase, and to exploit the automatic
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design of modeling with “flat” materials such as metal sheets and fabrics. This idea is best observed in the surface coating of the pavilion and the suits, both cut with the aid of laser-cutters. In this way, the direct translation of the geometry is not affected by the transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional space and the transparency and effects of movement are returned in equal measure by the clothes that hint at the skin and the surface that filters the light in the pavilion. The same care and artistic creativity is expressed in many of Elena Manferdini’s projects such as the Merletti installation, designed and built for the gallery of Sci-Arch, an architecture school overseas. The project explored the complexity of Venetian lace transposed into a different dimension, and out of the scale which humans are used to. The gallery space is changed and modeled by moving the knots that bind the fabric and a view of the fabric from the top allows us to understand the intricate plots that we usually can’t see with the naked eye. Merletti is a vision of the human eye through a microscope. From Atelier Manferdini’s particular experiences, a direct dialogue can be established between fashion and architecture. In the late 90’s, following the spread of the archistar’s fame among the general public, popular brand names began hiring designers to create impressive fashion concept stores. The strongest bond of this type is certainly represented by OMA Rem Koolhaas and Prada, with their shops and showrooms in New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Tokyo, and London and through the development of installations and merchandise display methods that incorporated new materials as in the case of the Prada Sponge. Currently, AMO, the creative department of OMA, works towards promoting and communicating the visual identity of Italian fashion designers. In recent years they’ve created graphics for catalogs and site-specific installations for Prada and Miu Miu shows, as well as completing a work of total and uniform “restructuring” of the famous brand.