Aalto University’s pedagogy in textiles studies relies on ‘textile thinking’
Textile design pedagogy at Aalto University aims at a holistic understanding of textiles and their potential.
The book Interwoven – Exploring Materials and Structures by Professor Maarit Salolainen is a thorough overview of the world of woven textiles and the textile design pedagogy at Aalto University. It takes the reader through the historical development of weaving and the textile industry to the future of the field.
The aim of the book is to increase the appreciation of fabrics and materials as a counterpart to fast fashion, and to increase public understanding of both the role of textiles in sustainable development and the technical and systems-level expertise required for the solutions.
The book outlines how the manifold history of textiles has been intertwined with human innovation from prehistoric twining to the invention of the binary code, through to today’s new material discoveries and the urgent quest for sustainability.
‘I wanted to make a book on fibres, yarns, structures of the textiles and the pedagogy of Aalto in teaching textile design. It was important to highlight the creative side of textile design intertwined with a thorough knowledge of textile technology, processes and techniques. Storytelling is a recurring theme in the book,’ says Maarit Salolainen, Adjunct Professor of textile design and director of the Fashion, Clothing and Textiles (FaCT) Master's programme at Aalto University.
Salolainen’s core message throughout the book is that one has to know how to use techniques and be creative with them – and to see into the future.
The book is for designers and design collaborators alike. It also aims to add to design pedagogy's international debate on design as learning.
Introducing the ‘textile thinking’ method
The new pedagogical method introduced in Interwoven is a tool for woven design teaching, which helps create a multi-disciplinary learning environment. Textile thinking strives for a holistic understanding of textiles. The method guides professional textile design practices and processes, renewing the way in which textile design has been taught. It also helps open up the essence of techniques and craft and design practices. The pedagogical model can be applied to another teaching as well.
'Textile thinking is embodied thinking. It is the way of combining tacit knowledge guided by emotions together with the understanding of the mechanisms in textiles – in short, it bridges the creative and the technical’, says Salolainen.
"The ability to imagine new sustainable design solutions is encouraged."
The book is grounded in design pedagogy and the principles of learning design by doing. It interweaves technical knowledge, artistic expression and storytelling, making it a unique guide to mastering textile design.
Importantly, it includes the creative aspects of textile design. Emphasis is placed on experimentation and tips on how to do this without forgetting the importance of mastering technical skills up to computer-aided design.
What is of great importance, the book powerfully addresses environmental concerns, which are fundamental to the future of textiles and fashion. When discussing the textile lifecycle, all phases must be considered: fibre cultivation, material manufacturing, yarn spinning, weaving, dyeing and printing processes, different finishing options and logistics phases, and the use and the end-of-life stages.
Information on the sustainability of textiles is provided throughout the book. The section written by Professor Kirsi Niinimäki on the environmental impact of textile fibres deep-dives into the theme.
‘I want to encourage students to fearlessly tackle technical knowledge as they are learning-by-doing and, what is exceedingly important, to utilise this knowledge to understand the complexity of the environmental impact of textiles to work towards new solutions for sustainable textile futures’, Salolainen explains.
Towards interdisciplinary learning
In the foreword of the book, textile designer, Professor Emerita and former Dean of Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture Helena Hyvönen recalls that the elementary aim during her period as a Dean was to aim for a comprehensive and shared design approach.
Part of that was the aspiration to weave together the Textiles and Fashion Studies programmes as closely as possible and to envision what role textiles and fashion can have in design pedagogy.
‘A significant leap towards interdisciplinary learning between the fields was taken by investing in fashion and textile studios, and developing the curricula towards learning by making’, Hyvönen says.
Back then, central to the teaching approach was to focus student time on the essentials; teaching design thinking, producing content and weaving a narrative, and developing technical skills efficiently.
‘Testament to this approach are the various successful careers our students have gone on to have in the textile industry and international fashion houses, not to mention the BA Programme in Fashion and MA Programme in Fashion, Clothing and Textile Design which reached the top of the Business of Fashion ranking in 2019.’
Today, Aalto University’s top-level studios and workshop infrastructure have become the core in promoting learning by doing. Aalto’s expertise in fashion and textiles is unique in the world.
I Feel You, Aino Ojala
I Feel You, Aino Ojala
Ioncell-Lindström -projekti
Ioncell-Lindström -projekti
Educating designers with hybrid skills
Aalto’s students already create a versatile fabric collection at the beginning of woven textile design studies, which increases their practical knowledge of textile fibre properties and yarns and their behaviour and relation to different weave structures. This way, the practice-led, creative research process is integral to textile technology studies. Students advance quickly to combined weaves and jacquards to innovate, implement and apply their skills in textiles and fashion or other domains.
Educating designers with ‘hybrid’ skills is vital for Salolainen. ‘The ability to imagine new sustainable design solutions is encouraged.’
Back to history: The invention of the jacquard loom marks the start of the digital age. At the beginning of the 19th century, Joseph Jacquard’s invention of the jacquard loom stored information for the first time in binary format on its perforated cardboard cards and laid the ground for automatic information processing, computers and data networks.
‘Today, textile structures and materials are applied in novel medical applications, electronics are incorporated into woven textiles, and new fibres reform the future – textiles remain at its core. We might be on the verge of a new era resembling the revolution which the jacquard loom's invention started’, says Salolainen.
The Interwoven book is available in the Aalto University Shop
The book (Aalto ARTS Books, 2022) includes contributions by lecturers Maija Fagerlund, Anna-Mari Leppisaari, professor Kirsi Niinimäki and Aalto University graduates. The photography is by Aalto alumna Eeva Suorlahti.
Aalto textile students' works were on display at the DIALOGUES exhibition in New York in November 2022 and at Dipoli in Otaniemi, Espoo from November 2022 through February 2023.
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