Contact: Cindy Thompson, 207-856-9911 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 28, 2002
The Future of Tension Fabric Design Transformit as an Industry Leader
CHICAGO – “As a sculptor, I originally chose fabric as my medium because I wanted to make big statements,” explains Cindy Thompson, President of Transformit. “The combination of the natural human attraction of fabric, and its flexibility as a material make fabric a powerful medium for creating emotionally charged shapes and environments.” With more than ten years of successful projects, Transformit is one of the pioneers of tension fabric design for interior applications. Driven by an artistic impulse, Transformit has always pursued collaborative projects that combine art and function in unique and exciting ways. The result is a growing body of work that integrates dramatic tension fabric sculpture and the worlds of marketing, retail environments, themed entertainment, and special events. The influence of fabric is undeniable in the current design and architecture communities. In this month’s Architectural Record, Todd Willmert presents dramatic examples of architects and designers – in temporary and permanent applications – pushing the envelope with fabric materials. His final words are, “It appears that fabric’s time has come.” Transformit experience supports that assertion. While Willmert focuses primarily on exterior uses, Transformit is at the center of an equally vibrant and innovative development of tension fabric as the medium of choice for interior design, and also marketing statements. Why? In the current economic climate many companies are trying to do more, but with less money. Design continues to be brand driven, but budget is playing a bigger role. Big box stores are everywhere, and they all look the same. Consumers are bored. Designers are reaching for fabric as a cost effective and engaging element for transforming the raw spaces of retail stores and creating memorable experience for consumers. Fabric can be colorful. It can move. It is translucent and luminous, a perfect surface for lighting effects. New advances in digitally printed graphics present options for sculptural graphic media. Large fabric structures dismantle and ship in manageable containers. Lee Peterson of the architecture and design firm WD Partners, in response to the questions “What could save the Gap?” is quoted in Display and Design Ideas (March 2002) saying “I believe Rem Koolhaas is right… They (the GAP) should use their flagship to surprise and delight the Gap customer.” Perhaps fabric is the solution. ###
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Examples from Transformit’s Portfolio
Sephora, a leading French cosmetics firm designed a 30-foot high black fabric enclosure that Transformit engineered and fabricated for their flagship store in Rockefeller Center, NYC. The sensual shape and large round openings created a feminine shaped wall of the store. Playing on the psychology of what is hidden/revealed – this unusual fabric structure served to attract buyers into the store.
Design and Manufacturing · email: info@transformitdesign.com · www.transformitdesign.com Transformit · 33 Sanford Drive · Gorham, ME 04038 · 207.856.9911 · Fax: 207.856.2353
The Great Indoors are “big box” stores designed by White Hot, Inc. and managed by GFX. Fabric Elements by Transformit include large 10’ – 15’ high by 9’ diameter internally lit fabric columns with pieced and sewn designs that create an impressive and crucial visual focal point in the center of several stores. Together with framed fabric window treatments in other stores, the fabric structures reinforce the store brand through coordinated colors and graphic patterns.
Design and Manufacturing · email: info@transformitdesign.com · www.transformitdesign.com
Transformit · 33 Sanford Drive · Gorham, ME 04038 · 207.856.9911 · Fax: 207.856.2353
Moving Morning Glory. Transformit’s own trade show booth in 2000 featured a 15’ high x 20’ wide “blooming morning glory.” Designed and engineered to open and close like a real flower, the lycra spandex and aluminum tube structure moved in coordination with a computerized light and sound show.
Design and Manufacturing · email: info@transformitdesign.com · www.transformitdesign.com Transformit · 33 Sanford Drive · Gorham, ME 04038 · 207.856.9911 · Fax: 207.856.2353