The Łukasiewicz – Textile Research Institute develops and products replicas of decorative fabrics intended for the interiors of revitalized historic buildings.
While revitalizing historical objects it is necessary to preserve their original style. Historical, decorative textiles made of conventional fibres were the least durable parts of interior furnishing. Most often they were completely destroyed and any information on such textiles is available as iconographic material only.
With regard to protection of cultural heritage and safety improvement during reconstruction of historical upholstery and decorative woven fabrics, not only stylish design can be reproduced but also additional properties can be provided. New decorative textiles should be flame retardant as frequently the current functionalities of historical objects differ considerably from their original character.
Modern achievements in textile materials engineering allow to design and produce replicas of woven textiles providing properties suitable for their application, including: flame retardant effect, reduced emission of combustion products, long service life. For many years the works on the development and production of flame retardant decorative woven fabrics for the interiors of revitalised historical objects have been performed in the Łukasiewicz – Textile Research Institute. As there are no complete, original textile furnishings of historical objects, the artistic designs, covering colour and structure, are developed on the basis of the knowledge of art history, preserved parts of interior decoration, archival photographs and other iconographic materials. CAD/CAM system is used to prepare artistic and technical designs of woven fabrics and special raw materials are applied in textile structural designs.
The application of textile replicas in historical objects depends on the fulfilment of the conditions/requirements imposed by art restorers and museum professionals and of the criteria on flammability and utility properties. Therefore, such research projects are carried out within interdisciplinary cooperation of specialists in the area of material engineering, fire protection, antiques restoration and art history.
See our work:
The Department of Mechanical Textile Łukasiewicz-Textile Institute
http://iw.lodz.pl/en/home/dl-en/department-of-mechanical-textile-technologies/
The Łukasiewicz – Textile Research Institute
