Dry Tech II by Droog Design
Dry Tech II Exhibition at Salone del Mobile, Milan, 1997
The second edition of the Dry Tech Project expanded the scope with 15 designers exploring innovative technical fabrics. Hella Jongerius made fibre stools by coiling high-tech fibres. Marcel Wanders made a table of epoxy resin reinforced with Swiss lace, and Jan Konings & Jurgen Bey turned old chairs and tables into strange cocoons with an elastic synthetic spray that is normally used to wrap aeroplanes and army vehicles when they’re not in use.
Wanders’s Lace Table transforms a traditional textile into a sculptural form, demonstrating how fabric can be reimagined as a solid, load-bearing structure. Though it initially appears delicate and decorative, the table is unexpectedly strong due to its resin reinforcement.
Wrapped Stool by Hella Jongerius
Hella Jongerius’s Wrapped Stool is a sculptural exploration of materiality and technique.
Kokon Furniture by Konings & Bey
The underlying structures of the Kokon Furniture are enveloped in a continuous “spider‑web” of synthetic fibres, typically PVC or spun-tech yarn, creating a taut, elastic “skin” that cloaks the frame. The synthetic wrap transforms both the appearance and sense of texture, providing sleek continuity while still allowing structural elements to emerge subtly.
New and intelligent technical fabrics had been developed with a team of fifteen, mostly Dutch designers. On the express wish of Professor Engineer Adriaan Beukers (Senior Lecturer Design and Production of Composite Structures), two architects had been invited to apply intelligent fabrics in architecture as well.
