tmoc (textile museum of canada)
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The design ambitions of the Textile Museum of Canada started from the notion of veiling, wrapping, and unraveling as qualities of textiles, with its production as an industry native and deeply rooted into the history of the site. The design is to reflect the fluidity of fabrics and more importantly, to achieve a multi-layering effect of skins, to create a visual experience of depth and translucency both on the interior as well as the exterior.
One of the main elements that carry the architectural design idea is the extension of the existing flood wall into a skin, a “cloak” that embraces the building. This plays a major role in bringing forward the design intention of fluidity, dynamism and wrapping. The building is rooted to this major gesture, and seems to unravel from it – the flow of the Grand River to the south symbolically unwinds its composition.
From this the circulation through the building is developed, flowing like a stream through the functional spaces of the museum. The building envelope follows the logic of fluidity in the circulation, curving and overlapping at various places, creating transparency and solidity, superimposing patterns and textures.
“The existing floor wall is extended into a skin, a “cloak” that embraces the building.”
