Invited by ETHZ Alexandre Theriot Studio to run a one week seminar involving textile, we organised it in Prato, where we have been hosted by Lottozero centre for textile, design, art and culture. Students explored together how to build a flexible space, using waste from a nearby weaving mill and fabrics from local stock. Out of our proposal, mutual learning by doing and students' generous commitment gave shape to a kind of «Palazzo Stracci» (rags palace).
Instaed of dismantling the work at the end of the week as it was planned, Lottozero offered to experiment the installation and its new spatial qualities for a few weeks, best answer we could expect to this collective experiment.
With its higly specific textile industry, Prato seemed an appropriate place to raise students’ awarness of historical and contemporary issues; complex phenomena have been shaping the city’s evolution since several centuries. Together with the student, we discovered this hub of textile globalisation in Europe, where high-range fabrics are still produced in the city, where textile waste flows from all over the world are handled and how Prato is a home to the world’s third largest Chinese community, mainly involved in clothing industry.
