the departments of furniture design and textiles at rhode island school of design [ risd ] are presenting the narrative of making at the xxi triennale international exhibition milan 2016 (xx1t) and at the 2016 international contemporary furniture fair (icff) in new york city.

the featured work is based on in-depth, multidisciplinary materials research, with furniture design students partnering with peers in textiles to rethink the use of soft materials in furniture design. rather than using conventional techniques to cover furniture with foam and textiles, in this work students emphasize the inherent qualities of the materials through methods based on weaving, knitting, knotting and crocheting.

throughout the fall 2015 semester, students developed a series of models that led to a full-scale mock-up; these in-depth explorations provided a solid foundation for the construction of the final, well-executed prototypes for the shows.

xxi triennale international exhibition milan> 21st century. design after design | cathedral of the fabbrica del vapore | via giulio procaccini 4 | 2 april > 26 june 2016.

international contemporary furniture fair | the javits center | 655 west 34th street | 14 > 17 may 14–17 2016.