Architecture//Fashion: A distant conversation?

Wow! It's been a month since I've been here and I have to say it's been a few rough weeks of work, work and more work. For one, architecture has taken over my life and I can safely say that the amount of hours my ass is glued to my studio seat is 10 times the norm for most people (sane or otherwise).

Before I set out to study architecture, I vowed to myself that I would find a balance between what I'm studying and what I initially wanted to study (fashion). I've had friends telling me I was crazy as I wouldn't be able to cope with the stress nor have the time of day to write this blog. But there's a fascinating connection between architecture and fashion and it'd be a waste not to explore it...

With architecture, the focus is mainly on space, tectonics and place. By place I mean the context with which architecture is surrounded in. It's this context however that makes me love architecture even more because of it's similarities with fashion. Architects need to know not only how a building looks or functions, but are also required to understand the culture and society that he is building in. In the same way, fashion is a physical manifestation of culture as it's both made by and made for people.

The theory of space has an even better association with fashion as both fields study the structure of the body or a building respectively. A look at the legendary architect-turned-fashion-designer Hussein Chalayan is proof of this artistic conversation.  Take his remote control dress for example; it's made out of a composite material created from fibreglass and resin cast in a specially designed mold. The side and rear flaps can be opened via a remote control to reveal a mass of frothy pink tulle. The stark simplicity of the design looks a lot like the white models I make at school, while the precision of the cut and the clever application of technology is not only a fashion statement, but also a new approach to design from an architectural perspective. 

As a tongue-in-cheek joke on the serious runways of Paris, Chalayan displayed his infamous collapsable coffee table dress made of wood for his F/W collection in 2000. Man of many talents, his subversion of everything design related produced many innovative results.

Chalayan's "Inertia" S/S collection in 2009 focused on the concept of movement and its effect on material. Much like Gaudi's experiment with hanging weights as a design exercise for the Sagrada Familia, Chalayan used concepts that aren't typically  associated with fashion.

Click below the jump for more projects related to fashion and architecture!