ACTUATED KNIT// TEXTILEMORPHOSIS

Actuated Knit//Textilemorphosis brings all the technological innovation of TextilesHUB – Textile Architecture Network to Fuorisalone 2025.

Founded in 2008 within the DABC - Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering at Politecnico di Milano, TextilesHUB is now the leading Italian network for researchers, manufacturers, and designers of membrane structural systems applied to construction engineering and architecture. It serves as an ideal platform for dialogue among stakeholders involved in designing construction systems based on fabrics and fibrous materials.

Actuated Knit//Textilemorphosis showcases a selection of projects that have significantly distinguished the work of the laboratory and its group of professors, researchers, PhD students, and undergraduates in integrating technology between textile and ultra-lightweight construction systems. These systems address the new demands for reducing embodied energy, adaptability, comfort, and circularity in present and future construction systems.

Textile screening systems integrate sensors and servo-actuators, transforming building envelopes into dynamic skins inspired by living organisms. These skins enhance real-time control of solar radiation, humidity, and natural ventilation. Membranes and skins condense air humidity to reduce potable water consumption, while insulation systems are derived from living organisms or recycled fibres from discarded clothing.

The high turnover of projects transitioning from research to industrial production and construction engineering attests to the value of the rigorous research conducted by Politecnico di Milano throughout its long history.

Actuated Knit//Textilemorphosis fosters a discussion on the future of circularity, aesthetics, technological integration, functionality, and transformability of buildings, especially in light of the challenges posed by the built environment and environmental upheavals.

Actuated Knit//Textilemorphosis is an invite to rethink buildings as lighter and more performative structures, akin to a protective third skin beyond our own skin and the clothes we wear. The exhibition encourages a holistic approach to design that enhances the well-being and health of environments through technology, circularity, and architecture, paving the way for tomorrow's construction technologies.