Anyone who has been writing about design for 25 years has seen many trends come and go. In retrospect, I even have to smile when I think about some of the theories – such as the one that things would ‘disappear’. That was actually predicted a good two decades ago with the advance of digitalisation.

Today, we know that analog hasn’t disappeared – and that we still want to live with things that can be kept and touched. The return of the vinyl record, for example, was unthinkable for many – and yet record players are enjoying great popularity again. Especially because we now have access to millions of songs via our smartphones, there's something special to the ceremony of putting on a record.

The following applies to all creative disciplines: truly unique, high-quality works of design are almost always the result of certain favourable constellations. This is just as true for directors and musicians as it is for architects and designers. Because great creative ideas can often only be realised in a team, in cooperation with collaborators.

Two years ago, the young Swiss singer, violinist and composer Chiara Dubey released an album entitled 'Constellations'. A starry sky adorns the cover – so here, too, it's about a special interaction that is under a good star. But how, you might now ask, do we get from album covers to a company that makes furniture?

Today there are enormous application possibilities when it comes to textile technology, and as new developments emerge within the sector, this number will continue to grow. A current example from the world of architecture neatly demonstrates the improvements that can be realised in relation to the quality of air, work and life in general if one is prepared to explore alternative ways of doing things. The project involves a recently developed curtain-type textile facade that can not only reduce a building's solar cooling load by up to 78%, but can even gather nitrogen oxide particles from the air and convert them in an environmentally friendly way by means of a special coating.

OBJECT CARPET’s recent collaboration with multidisciplinary architecture and design studio Ippolito Fleitz Group has led to expansive, unconventional and, more importantly, sustainable results.