“I discovered that the Dutch approach to improving sustainability is to pursue circular solutions that focus on recycling, chiefly at the end of the production chain.” This is just a partial solution, she says. “Actually, you should move the entire chain to the Netherlands. I wanted to provide an impulse in the form of spatial configurations that will simplify sourcing raw materials from our own country and processing them regionally.” 

Old practices

When she was an internship student, Jin-Ah Duijghuisen got a foretaste of research into, and the design of, spatial relationships between agriculture and urban areas. “It left me wanting more.” For her master thesis, she explored how textile production in the Province of Noord-Brabant is related to the configuration and use of the landscape.

In the past, wool from sheep that grazed the moorland heather was used to produce textiles. There was a flourishing textile industry in Tilburg up until the second half of the twentieth century, says Jin-Ah. “Uniforms for the Dutch army came from the ‘wool city’.” The processing, weaving and dyeing of the wool all took place on the spot. “In fact, the process pretty much met the circular principles we aspire to today.” Can old practices inspire new ones? “I have investigated how a landscape featuring sandy soil produces a material flow via a logical form of land use. This land use and material flow occupies a certain amount of space and entails certain spatial functions. Based on this analysis, I was able to derive design rules for spatial functions in a contemporary version of the initial textile production chain: from sheep farm to clothing workshop and from distribution point to consumer.”

Textile landscape

Through studying and sketching, Jin-Ah arrived at a structural plan in which, at the strategic level, spatial interventions are proposed that enable the transition to a self-sufficient textile landscape in Noord-Brabant. What is more, she developed a practical instrument: a set of cards with various interconnected spatial patterns. “Sheep farmers, clothing designers, retail traders and provincial officials can use these cards to hold objective discussions on possible interventions.” The conclusion is that the reintroduction of a small-scale wool industry would not only result in a sustainable textile trade but in extensive agriculture and nature restoration as well. “I show how slow fashion can be achieved.”

More information

The complete thesis is available through this link:

• Textile Landscape: A design exploration on how to overcome metabolic imbalances in the textile industry

Jin-Ah Duijghuisen graduated under the supervision of  Alexander Wandl and Birgit Hausleitner.