Narratives of winter daylight

Abstract

Isabel Cabral’s PhD research – Dynamic Light Filters: Smart Materials Applied to Textile Design - proposes to explore smart textiles as a medium to enhance and involve physical and immaterial dimensions, with emphasis on design possibilities of smart textiles dynamic behaviour in interaction with light. Focused on colour change and shape memory materials integration in textile substrates, Narratives of winter daylight researches technical and expressional possibilities of smart textiles structures to transform incident light that passes through them – light transmittance – without acting upon the light source. This research prototype is inspired by the dynamic quality of natural daylight. Light intensity and colour tones of one winter day were observed and photos were record each hour from 6a.m. to 7p.m. Results set a framework to assist design decisions on colours, morphology and interaction. Perception of textiles behaviour and light transmittance variation, aroused by diverse activation sequences, present visual narratives of dynamic light scenarios. This prototype addresses a research conducted on: development of paste recipes and screen-printing with thermochromic and conventional pigments to obtain defined colour ratio – from similar to different colours; integration of shape memory alloys in textile structures whose dynamic behaviour achieves geometrically defined shapes.