To some it may come as a surprise: a hand-woven art installation in a building at Eindhoven University of Technology, a university known primarily for its high-tech research. But that's exactly what Hella Jongerius, one of the leading designers of the Netherlands, will be working on with her team from late January. And not without reason, because weaving has more in common with modern technology than one might suspect. Over a two-month period, a nine-meter-high cube will be woven in the renovated LaPlace building. Neuron, as the modernist building is to be called, will be the future headquarters of the AI institute EAISI and will also house several lecture halls. The weaving process will be on site and for all to follow.
That Jongerius chose a loom for a building that once housed the TU/e computing center, and where students and researchers will soon invent clever new applications for artificial intelligence, is no coincidence.
"For Loom Room, Jongerius was inspired by the history of jacquard weaving. That is an automated weaving method from the late 18th century based on punch cards, which is known as the forerunner of modern computer programming," says Britte Sloothaak, curator of the TU/e Art Collection, who - together with Bernard Colenbrander (emeritus professor of building history) - commissioned the work.
