Bio-Inspired Textiles: a poetic approach to raise awareness about air quality at home

At home, we are exposed to the hidden effects of microbial and chemical factors that affect air quality and have a negative impact on our health. This practice-led textile research addresses the challenge of raising awareness about air quality in the home environment. It aims to establish a poetic approach to raising awareness that also empowers people to improve their homes and contributes to their wellbeing.

The research is comprised of two stages. The first stage involves the generation and evaluation of interactive textile artefacts that raise awareness about air quality at home and that function as domestic probes. This stage utilises bio-inspiration as a way to abstract design principles from the biological model, represented here by the nest behaviour of the female blue tit bird (Cyanistes caeruleus) and apply them to the design of textile samples and artefacts. It evaluates the artefacts through two iterative adoption experiments in which they were placed in participants’ homes. Analysis of the data collected in the form of interviews and personal journal studies showed the potential the artefacts have in raising awareness about air quality, in empowering participants to improve their homes and in generating a sense of wellbeing at home. This was due to the repetitive engagement with the artefacts, an awareness about the bio-inspired narrative, and their aesthetic. Informed by these findings, guidelines for bio-inspired design that raises awareness about air quality were established and evaluated during the second research stage. The testing involved their practical application by undergraduate students via a design brief as part of a course on bioinspiration. Analysis of the data collected in the form of students’ projects and feedback forms confirmed their applicability in design and revealed the challenges that occurred in this practical application.

The research contributes to the field of bio-inspiration and the discipline of textile design by providing guidelines for design that raises awareness about air quality, supplemented by full visual documentation of Bio-inspired Awareness, a physical example of a bio-inspired artefact that raises awareness about air quality.