MESH /
WEAVE THE METAL
FROM INDUSTRY
TO ARCHITECTURE
INDUSTRIAL
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
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.
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