MESH / WEAVE THE METAL – FROM INDUSTRY TO ARCHITECTURE

MESH /
WEAVE THE METAL

FROM INDUSTRY
TO ARCHITECTURE

RESEARCH

RE–001

Metal mesh is spiral-wound, braided, and knitted. It comes in steel, aluminum, bronze, or copper. It can be used for facades, roofing, curtains, decorations, tapestries, or furniture. Both flexible and sturdy, opaque and transparent, it is devilishly ambivalent and ready to do anything to complement the architect’s vision.

Originally, these metal fabrics were invisible to the general public: viewed exclusively from a technical perspective—for filtering, carrying, or covering—they were never considered for use in architecture or interior design. By exploring this material from several angles—industrial, architectural, and design—Gaëlle Lauriot-Prévost and Dominique Perrault brought metal mesh out of the invisibility to which its sole functionality had confined it.

Once diverted from its original purpose, metal mesh revealed its remarkable adaptability and its many facets in terms of texture, surface, and color. It has become a material for conception and design in its own right. This expansion of wire mesh was made possible in particular by the encounter with the German manufacturer GKD, a company that has been weaving metal for more than two centuries and which, in close collaboration with DPA, has contributed expertise and innovation that has been constantly renewed over the last forty years.

From 1989 to 2024, from the National Library of France to the Suzanne Lenglen court at Roland-Garros or at the Villejuif-Gustave Roussy station, including furniture and lighting, many projects and achievements have contributed to nourish this research around metal wire.
This approach is recounted and illustrated in the book “Metallic knit, the history of a weave”, published by Gallimard in 2024. Through two volumes of the same box, the book explores the mesh in all its states: principles of use, architectural functions, possibilities of fixation and sensory dimension according to its appearance. Between a catalogue raisonné and an artist’s book, this work is aimed at designers, students and architecture enthusiasts.

GALLERY

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DÉTAIL

Situation

France

Année

Since 1980

Status

Research, industrial

Research implementation

Dominique Perrault

PUBLICATIONS

Research Interior architect

Gaëlle Lauriot-Prévost

DESCRIPTION

Since the creation of the agency in 1981, DPA has conducted an important research work on materials and more particularly on metal mesh, a construction material born from the meeting between industrial engineering and architecture. For nearly 30 years, through a close collaboration with industrialists, DPA explores and develops the multiple uses of these metallic fabrics in major architectural projects.

Publication 12.06.2025

LAUNCH OF THE BOOK “ METAL MESH: THE HISTORY OF A WEAVING PROCESS” AT THE JOUSSE ENTREPRISE GALLERY

SEE PROJECT

“LA MAILLE EN COMPAGNIE” CURATED BY GAËLLE LAURIOT-PRÉVOST AT THE JOUSSE ENTREPRISE GALLERY

Exhibition 06-07.2025

The encyclopedic work on metal mesh published by Gallimard is the starting point for this exhibition, which weaves together a conversation between architects, designers, and artists. Written by Gaëlle Lauriot-Prévost, this conversation imagines formal dialogues between pieces of furniture and design from the Galerie Jousse collection and pieces they have designed. Thus, their light tubes, whose light is filtered through pleated metal mesh, dialogue with Philippe Starck’s neon lights, which seem to echo the metal mesh surrounding the fluorescent tube. The “Ballets de Marseille” screens, designed by the two creators for a ballet by Frédéric Flamand and developed in accordance with the proportions of the Modulor, partition the space around a bed by Le Corbusier, a table by Charlotte Perriand, and pieces by Jean Prouvé. Contemporary works by artists from the gallery—Clément Borderie, Jennifer Caubet, and Seulgi Lee—are brought together here as punctuation marks in this dialogue between generations, architects, and designers. Finally, a setting had to be found for the artist’s edition of the book “La maille métallique” (Metal Mesh), which contains a notebook made of metal parchment. A limited edition of 20 copies, signed by Gaëlle Lauriot-Prévost and Dominique Perrault, will be revealed in a display table by Jean Prouvé.

GALLERY

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