Laboratory for Virtuous Textile Production


Laboratorio para la Producción Textil Virtuosa




VISION



The Laboratory for Virtuous Textile Production aims to create a transformative and alternative educational experience regarding fashion and textile production. The Laboratory will provide a deep disciplinary knowledge of the history of textiles; understand the societal or political impacts of the industry; explore environmental problem solving; provide critical ways of communication; and regard art as a form of criticism and speculation. The program serves as a forum for brands, designers, eco-conscious consumers, and raw material makers to contemplate and discuss virtuous textiles. The campus programs and spaces provide opportunities to experience physical textiles in all cycles of its life - from raw material - to repurposed. Any and all forms of material are available for study here, and are integrated into every part of the buildings. 


View campus guide here.


CAMPUS PROGRAMS



Studio-Factory of Decolonial Cotton
Studio-Factory of Liberated Silk
Studio-Factory of a Dye-ing World

Forum of Fleeting Fancies
School of Textile Disruption

Plaza of Potential

Gallery for Art
Gallery for History

Runway of Reclaimation





EDUCATION



At the Laboratory, students will study academics and participate in discussions about topics that place the fashion industry in its current position:

- History of colonized textiles
- Literature about labor in production
- Psychology of Materials and Consumerism
- Branding & Marketing Strategies
- "Fast" Fashion

The intention of the education is to inform, and to provide a foundation for further criticism and exploration in the Studio-Factories.


STUDIO-FACTORIES



Students will explore the importance of more virtuous methods of production and fabrication in the Studio-Factories. Education through a small-scale system of production allows one to devise solutions and/or criticisms through art or practice. Studio-Factories concentrations are available in three types of impactful textile production. Students are permitted and encouraged to explore multiple factory concentrations.

1. COTTON
2. SILK
3. DYE




References - Ivan Leonidov, City of the Sun; Bruno Taut, Alpine Architecture





Archetype Research


Peaks / Speleothems




Pyramids

Leonidov, City of the Sun

Hualien Hills, BIG

Crystal Mountain, Alpine Architecture, Bruno Taut

Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA