Textiles, environment, design (TED): making theory into textiles through sustainable design strategies, pedagogy and collaboration

Abstract

The TED research cluster at Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London, is a collective of practice-based design researchers whose main concerns are the consideration of the role that the designer can play in creating textiles that have a reduced impact on the environment and to provide a toolbox of designer-centred solutions. The cluster involves both staff and students in projects that apply ecodesign theories to textiles practice, with the aim of generating artefacts and theories that will aid designers in creating „better‟ materials, products, systems and improved social well-being. This essay uses three recent TED projects to illustrate how some of the TED members are creating new textiles, dialogues, and enterprises that are all inspired and guided by the TED cluster and its open, pedagogic and collaborative structure.