Irenebrination: Notes on Architecture, Art, Fashion, Fashion Law & Technology

3D Print-Knit Technology for Medical Devices: Maskº by Ministry of Supply

We have recently looked at the response offered by some fashion companies to the COVID-19 pandemic and at the various masks that are being produced in different countries. Shortages of a variety of protective materials including gloves are definitely worrying: Malaysia-based Top Glove Corp Bhd (usually producing most of the gloves distributed all over the world) announced for example that it needs more employees as orders have doubled and the company isn't able to meet the increased demand.  

Shortages have prompted many companies to gradually switch their production onto masks and medical overalls to fight the Coronavirus pandemic, the latest one being Carhartt. The brand that usually manufactures products geared for the construction industry that are also favoured by streetstyle fans, announced it will produce 2.5 million masks and 50,000 medical gowns for ths US market from April 6 involving 5,500 employees around the world.

We have seen in a previous post how some companies have been experimenting with masks in technical textiles or made employing innovative techniques. Among them there is also Ministry of Supply (a name inspired by the eponymous department of the UK Government established in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to the British armed forces at the frontlines during World War II).

The Boston-based company developed a sort of alternative mask that respects the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) COVID-19 Face Mask Public Health Guidelines and that could provide healthcare professionals protection when N95 respirators and surgical masks are no longer available.

Shima Seiki developed an open-source 3D-Knit program for masks that Ministry of Supply modified with the help of a team of advisors including doctors, nurses, engineers and factories and with the company's long-time partner Skylar Tibbits at MIT Self-Assembly Lab. The result was the Maskº, a viscose and PBT Polyester washable and reusable protective device made using 3D Print-Knit technology, an agile manufacturing process for rapid prototyping. A single mask can indeed be knitted in under 9 minutes. This process also allows 3D shaping to create structures for the mouth and nose and therefore guarantees a more comfortable fit.

On the company's site it is highlighted how the mask is made with different techniques - such as computerized knitting and die-cutting - and has a pocket for a replaceable High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) equivalent filter element. 

The masks are produced in Nimbly in California, but they are exclusively made to support healthcare professionals: ordinary people can make a donation through the Ministry of Supply site that will go towards producing and procuring face masks, N95 equivalent respirators, surgical masks, and the company's own Masksº  for the medical community. As an alternative, consumers can buy Ministry of Supply's clothes and the company will donate 20% of the sales towards the production and distribution of face masks.

Knitting Face Masks with Shima Seiki

As seen in previous posts, in response to the Coronavirus emergency different companies started producing face masks. Japanese knitting machines manufacturer Shima Seiki gave its contribution by releasing two weeks ago on the company's users' site knitting data for a 3D knitted mask for its WHOLEGARMENT knitting machines (Samples: M1503W00F for Ladies; M1503W10F for Men).

The data was aimed at making cotton masks on the Japanese company's SWG041N2, SWG061N2 and SWG091N2 models, as well as on the rest of its compact WHOLEGARMENT knitting machines.

The seam-free 3D WHOLEGARMENT masks are designed to provide superior fit and comfort. Ear straps are knitted in one­piece together with the mask portion offering reduced stress on the ears and requiring no further sewing for quick response production.

A first update was released a week ago with data for cotton masks that can be produced on both WHOLEGARMENT machines as well as conventional shaping machines and the rest of Shima Seiki's computerized knitting machine lineup equipped with the moveable sinker system.  

The new masks (WHOLEGARMENT samples: M1504W00F for Ladies; M1504W10F for Men; Shaped knit mask: I2250S00F for Ladies; I2250S10F for Men) are characterised by improved fit and comfort and by elastic bands, but with no need for further sewing.  

A third update arrived on Monday with a new mask that can be produced on Shima Seiki's SVR093SP, SVR123SP and SVR183SP computerized knitting machines. 

The new masks (I2252S00F for Ladies; I2252S10F - for Men) are knitted with elastic bands pre­attached through the inlay technique.

All the masks feature a knitted-in filter pouch for inserting commercially available filtration fabrics. The masks are washable and reusable, but, not having virus and pollen filtration functionality, their main purpose is creating a temporary barrier and protecting from coughing and sneezing. 

They remain interesting samples, though, first of all as they were developed by a company better known for its advanced technologies in the knitting field, and then because updates about the masks were frequently released, showing that design is definitely not static, but dynamic and improvements and innovations can be constantly introduced.

Fashion & Coronavirus Face Masks, A Recap

What has Prada got to do with a women's religious order and with inmates in Italian prisons? Fashionistas, please don't fret, Miuccia hasn't decided to become a nun and she hasn't been arrested. The common factor between them is the fact that they recently joined the effort to fight against the Coronavirus outbreak in Italy (at the time of writing this post the country has recorded more than 100,000 cases and over 11,000 deaths) and are currently producing face masks.

As the virus quickly spread, it became clear that there was an immediate need for specific medical supplies, especially masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) and the response from the fashion industry, but also from smaller factories and independent workshops and designers has been great. In some Italian regions, including Lombardy and Tuscany, where there are prisons that have garment laboratories (Milan-based prisons San Vittore, Opera, Bollate and Monza, for example), inmates are also sewing face masks. 

After receiving a request from the Tuscany region, Prada started making 110,000 sanitary masks and 80,000 medical overalls for health-care personnel in Montone (Perugia). This is the only factory still operative belonging to the Italian fashion group and it is supported by a network of suppliers also based in Italy. Daily deliveries of these materials should be completed by April 6. On top of that, a couple of weeks ago, Prada's Patrizio Bertelli and Miuccia Prada, along with chairman Carlo Mazzi, donated six intensive care units to Milan's Vittore Buzzi, Sacco and San Raffaele hospitals.  

After an initial donation of 1.25 million euros to the Luigi Sacco and San Raffaele hospitals and the Istituto dei Tumori in Milan, as well as the Istituto Lazzaro Spallanzani in Rome, and the Italian Protezione Civile (Civil Protection), Armani decided to donate funds also to hospitals in Bergamo and Piacenza and the Versilia hospital in Tuscany. Besides, the company also started producing in all its Italian factories (four) disposable smocks for health-care providers.

In Italy there have been a wide range of projects revolving around face masks: printing plants like Grafica Veneta, located in the province of Padua and printing 300 million books a year, reconverted to make face masks; Alba-based textile firm Miroglio Group, produced instead washable masks that can be ironed and used 5 times. The company is providing them for emergency workers, NGOs and journalists.

Verona-based group Calzedonia also converted the production in Gissi, Avio (Trento) and Croatia to produce face masks: the new machines in these plants allow to manufacture 10,000 face masks a day, but the numbers will increased in the next few weeks.

Rome-based Talarico usually makes ties, but started producing face masks with fabric leftovers in March. In their case, they opted for a mask with a pocket inside in which wearers can insert a sheet of non-woven paper to maximise protection. The money from the sale of the face masks went to the region of origin of the company founder, Calabria. The production was suspended after a decree of the Italian government stopped all non-essential activities in the country to reduce the risk of contagion.

There have also been several independent projects about masks: local artisans and seamstresses in Miglianico, in the Abruzzo region, made almost 3,000 face masks, co-ordinated by the owners of a spinning artisanal workshop in the villlage. Even though these masks are not medical devices, they were washed and sterilised in a local laundry, then packed one by one and donated to the Civil Protection that delivered them to the locals.

Powerful fashion conglomerates and groups are helping in different ways: Kering, owner of Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and Brioni, made a donation of $2m to Coronavirus medical research, and donated 3 million face masks (purchased and imported from China) to French health services.

Gucci, one of its brands, made two separate donations to crowdfunding campaigns, one for the Italian Civil Protection Department and another to the United Nations Foundation's Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund in support of the World Health Organization. The brand also announced it is ready to make over one million masks and 55,000 medical overalls in Italy when approved by the medical authorities (other Kering brands with factories based in France, such as Balenciaga and Saint Laurent, also announced they were ready to make masks).

The latest luxury brand to join in the efforts is Chanel that announced on Sunday it would launch production of face masks and gowns after its prototypes received the approval of French authorities.

American companies also teamed up against Coronavirus: inspired by JFK's quote "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country", some brands (American Giant, Parkdale Inc., Fruit of the Loom, Hanesbrands, Los Angeles Apparel, AST Sportswear, American Knits, Beverly Knits, and Riegel Linen) have formed a coalition set to provide medical-grade masks.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo appealed for medical supplies and fashion designers tried to help, among the others Brandon Maxwell who announced on Instagram that his atelier has started focusing on researching how to make PPE and in particular hospital gowns, while Christian Siriano's staff got instead busy making masks for non-medical hospital workers who do not need medical-grade protective equipment (like most masks produced by fashion designers, Siriano's are not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration). 

Threeasfour gave a sustainable twist to their masks coming up with a washable version made with leftover fabrics from their "inSALAAM inSHALOM" collection (2012): they are sold on their website accompanied by a note stating that obviously these are not N95 certified masks and they don't prevent illness or COVID-19, blocking airborne particles or viruses, but they offer some protection.

The designers pledge they will be donating 10% of each purchase towards creating medical masks for  the support of the health community in New York City.   

Face mask-wise there have also been interesting experiments: Cifra, an Italian company producing seamless garments with the WKS (Warp Knitting Seamless) technique created the Warp-Mask in a high-tech waterproof, washable and sterilised Oeko Tex Standard 100 fabric.

Blueitaly also produces resistant anti-fog (for people who wear glasses) masks in polyurethane that can be washed with water and soap, but they are awaiting for the medical certification, while Giosport started manufacturing washable masks made with technical fabrics that already managed to obtain the 93/42/CEE 2020 medical certification.

Now, while it is great to see how the fashion industry has been reacting to this unprecedented emergency, it must be highlighted that, in most cases, switching the production to face masks and hospital gowns is a way to keep a factory going and the workforce employed, which isn't certainly easy in these times. Yet, as stated in a previous post, most of these masks are not designed for medical purposes, even though they are useful to create a barrier for everyday purposes and needs. 

The most reliable masks are indeed manufactured by those companies that already produce personal hygiene products: for example, Pescara-based Fater reconverted its industrial line usually employed to make sanitary towels, and developed a mask that passed lab tests and proved effective against bacteria and biological risks. The company can produce 250,000 pieces a day. 

All this race to producing masks should also make us stop and ponder if there may be some companies out there producing protective equipment with dangerous materials or in unsafe conditions. Consider for example the fact that fast fashion companies (from the Inditex Group, owner of Zara, to H&M) would like to join the effort and produce masks, gowns, gloves, goggles and caps for this emergency, and you immediately start wondering where their factories will be based and if they will be approved for safety, health, and environmental protection standards (or will they be made in unsterile sweatshops?).

Throughout March the Italian authorities have found all over the country counterfeit medical masks and hand sanitisers made in illegal laboratories with counterfeit trademarks and fake "CE" certification stamps, so there is already an emergency within the emergency. 

Maybe we should also start considering not just the emergency, but also what will come after Coronavirus: we are making masks, but we will have to start thinking how to dispose of these potentially contaminated materials or how we can recycle them (in Italy you go out shopping for groceries with a mask and gloves; quite often supermarkets give you gloves at the entrance and it is not rare to find gloves discarded in the parking lot outside the supermarket by careless people...).

Alternatives to mask making have so far included producing hand sanitisers: LVMH converted the production facilities of its Perfumes & Cosmetics brands - Christian Dior, Guerlain and Givenchy - but Estée Lauder, the L'Oréal Group, Coty Inc. also went for this option.

Other fashion personalities and groups have limited themselves instead to making donations (among the others Donatella Versace and her daughter Allegra Versace Beck; Valentino Garavani and his longtime business partner Giancarlo Giammetti; the Geox and Diadora labels; and Qatar-based fund Mayhoola, parent company of Valentino, Balmain and Pal Zileri). 

Is it possible to contribute in other ways to the global fight against Coronavirus? While in some cases the fashion designer masks may look cool, it seems like donating N95 masks to hospitals or donating money to research facilties working on Coronavirus are other options. And while we do it, we should maybe start pondering about something else as well: the pandemic has radically transformed our lives and the world as we knew it, and a global demand for masks reshifted the production from clothes and accessories to medical supplies, maybe proving that so far we have manufactured way too many clothes that we didn't really need.

In Times of Coronavirus, The Temporarily Closed Museum Turns into an Artist's Space: The Fries Museum X Claudy Jongstra

Public life has shut down due to the Coronavirus crisis. The present is fluid: time seems to be defined only by the latest news about the global pandemic that has radically changed our lives. The future remains therefore uncertain: we mark our days in lockdown while we collectively hope we may go back to normality and to a more social life as soon as possible.

Yet there is one question that insistently buzzes in our minds - will life be the same if and when the crisis is over? Artist Claudy Jongstra is asking herself the same question, but she is also wondering if we can try and redesign the relationship between human beings and nature and she is providing some answers through her new work. 

A passionate advocate of sustainability with an eye for the conservation of biodiversity, the award winning textile artist and designer settled in 2001 in the village of Spannum, in Friesland, two hours from Amsterdam. Here she breeds her own flock of rare Drenthe Heath heritage sheep, keeps bees and designs felt pieces made in collaboration with her team that comprises felters and dyers. As an artist she breathes new life into old crafts, such as weaving and felting wool. All materials are produced locally and sustainably, in close connection with the surrounding communities, and her textiles have also been integrated into fashion designs including Viktor & Rolf's Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 19 and Martin Margiela's Artisanal A/W 2018-19 collections.   

In 2018 the Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden and Claudy Jongstra entered into a long-term partnership, something very apt as the institution and the artist share a passion for textiles. One section of the museum's permanent collection is indeed entitled "Seven Centuries of Leiden Cloth" and Jongstra also designed a textile for the museum, a woolen fabric that is sold by the meter in the museum shop.

The museum scheduled a major solo exhibition for the Autumn of 2020 (the opening date will be announced later on) focused on Jongstra (and in collaboration with curator Nicole Roepers and guest curator Suzanne Oxenaar) that should occupy a new wing of the restored and expanded building. The event will include a new monumental installation entitled "Nine". 

As most museums, including the De Lakenhal, are currently closed because of Coronavirus, the artist didn't know if she may have found a suitable workspace to develop her new 250 square meter installation. Luckily, the Fries Museum came to her rescue: even though also this institution is closed, it offered Jongstra the chance to work in its reception hall in the coming weeks. Jongstra has therefore set up a temporary studio there until the institution opens again.

In this way the artist can still work and the museum will contribute to the realization of new art, and, though visitors may not be able to see the artist at work, we will all be able to follow the process via social media platforms and ponder in this way about materials, resources and production systems. "For me, a holistic approach is of fundamental importance. In my work, regenerative agriculture, local materials and the preservation of old knowledge are central, "Jongstra states in a press release. "In this time of the Coronavirus crisis, this appears to be even more relevant and important than before. Now global supply chains are under current constraints, we are noticing the benefits of protecting local resources and reviving regional production systems. "

Temporarily converting a museum into an artist's workshop isn't obviously possible for most museums (for safe and safety reasons, insurance and so on), yet it remains an intriguing idea that may help us redesigning and reinventing some cultural spaces in the future. "Jongstra demonstrates that the connection with the past can pave the way to the future", Meta Knol, director of Museum De Lakenhal, states. "For us as a museum, this is a positive and inspiring example which we would like to share with as many others as possible." 

Image credits in this post

Photographs by David Vroom

De-Stress with Downloadable Fashion-Themed Colouring Pages

Sundays are usually quiet affairs, but if you're in a lockdown and in quarantine because of Coronavirus, they may become extremely dull days. 

Yet there are ways to relieve the boredom and stress and get (at least for a short while) your mind off the worries generated by this global pandemic. How? Well, there are a few institutions currently providing colouring sheets of artefacts from their collections that you may use as a fun therapy.

The Fashion Museum in Bath offers a Learning Life section for example with a downloadable coloring page of a 1760s yellow and gold woven silk robe à la française from its collections, plus instructions to learn how to make quick craft projects with spare buttons or knitting with your fingers.

Bata Shoe Museum publishes every week on its site a "Colouring The World at Your Feet" sheet: the new one will be published on Friday, but, for the time being, you can choose between several designs including Bally's '20s shoes with woven uppers and Air Jordan I sneakers or rubber "silver wing" bathing shoes made by Phillips in 1934, André Perugia's glamorous 1930s shoes and Steven Arpad's creation for Delman with a sinuously carved wooden heel. Those ones who like a fun twist in their shoes can try and reinvent the colour scheme in Beth Levine's racing cars shaped shoes.

While colouring pages are considered the perfect past times for chidlren, they can be great for grown-ups as well, especially if you have to try and colour in (or maybe decorate with other materials), beaded Wabanaki moccasins or the distinctive platform shoes worn by upper-class Manchu women during the late Qing dynasty.

Once you're finished you can share your creations online by tagging @batashoemuseum and using #BSM. Stay safe, stay home (if you can and if you live in one of the many countries that are currently in lockdown) and try to have an anxiety-free Sunday.    

Rich Embroideries, From Religion to Haute Couture (Thinking About All the Artisans Affected by Coronavirus)

"For weeks now it has been evening. Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void, that stops everything as it passes by; we feel it in the air, we notice in people's gestures, their glances give them away. We find ourselves afraid and lost," Pope Francis stated yesterday afternoon during a special "Urbi et Orbi" blessing and prayer service on the steps of St Peter's Basilica. It was a surreal and moving moment, especially when the camera framed the empty square.

Fans of the fashion and religion connection who worshipped at the altar of the Costume Institute's Spring 2018 Exhibition "Heavenly Bodies" and followed the prayer service, may have spotted something interesting - the humeral (from the Latin "humerus" – shoulder) veil donned by the Pope.

This is a liturgical vestment, a fabric rectangle (2.50 m or 2.75 m long and 60 cm or 90 cm wide), used by the Catholic and Anglican churches (and in some Lutheran churches). The vestment is mainly white (though red and purple may be used only for Good Friday), it is draped over the shoulders and down the front and features pockets at the ends that allow the wearer to hold items without touching them with the hands. 

The veil is indeed often seen during the liturgy of the Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament: priests or deacons bless the people with the monstrance and cover their hands with the ends of the veil so that they don't touch the monstrance in sign of respect for the sacred vessel that contains the Eucharist in which Jesus is present.

The garment is usually covered with intricate embroideries representing the blessed sacrament surrounded by rays (like the one we saw yesterday during the Pope's special service), the cross or other Eucharistic emblems (the letters IHS, contraction of the name Jesus, the lamb, ears of corn or bunches of grapes).

Somehow, the more you looked at the garment donned by the Pope, the more you thought about iconic designs covered with embroideries of rays such as Schiaparelli's "Phoebus" cape ("Cosmique" Winter Collection 1938-39). A constant inspiration for other designers and an item that often reappeared in runway shows in more recent years, the shocking pink cape featured on the back a sequinned embroidery by Lesage with a sunray mask of tinsel and gold thread. The cape was called "Phoebus" as in classical mythology this title referred to Apollo, the sun god, and therefore to a personification of the sun.

You could argue that both these garments have a great theatrical effect as they are characterised by a dichotomy between simplicity (the rectangle of fabric or the minimalist cape) and the rich embroidery on the back. Schiaparelli was somehow also inspired by religion and in particular by St. Peter's Square as she embroidered Saint Peter's keys on an evening suit in 1939.

The rich embroideries on these two garments should make us stop and think about all the craftspeople who may not be working at the moment because of Coronavirus.   

The Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode that regulates fashion in France has officially cancelled the men's June shows and Haute Couture fashion week in July, while the Italian Camera Nazionale della Moda rescheduled the men's shows to September (they will take place together with the womenswear runways), so these will be complex times for many categories working in the fashion industry, especially highly skilled artisans.

Can 3D Printing Help Fighting Coronavirus?

At the end of of February, when Coronavirus had already started spreading in the north of Italy, a bizarre picture went viral on social media: it showed a man walking in via Toledo, in the centre of Naples, wearing not a surgical mask, but a full-face snorkeling mask. Hilarity, as you may imagine, ensued: that wasn't certainly the best way to protect yourself from Coronavirus, but it was ideal for Carnival maybe.

Fast-forward to today: a month has gone and COVID-19 is a nightmare and a pandemic. Italy is fighting against a major Coronavirus outbreak, with the north remaining the most badly affected area. Besides, we aren't laughing anymore at the snorkeling mask. That's actually not because it can be used to replace surgical masks that have become rare, but because a startup transformed the snorkeling device into a useful medical applicance thanks to 3D printing.

As Coronavirus spread, 3D printing has become widely used for a variety of applications: in yesterday's post we mentioned 3D-printed isolation wards in China, but there have so far been companies such as Prusa and Stratasys that developed 3D-printed face shields for medical staff, while Copper3D worked on a 3D-printed N95 mask called NanoHack, manufactured with a material called Plactive.

Projects have also multiplied for what regards 3D printed face masks to make at home as surgical masks are by now rare (yet, as highlighted in a previous post, this may not be a great idea as PLA, the most common material used for 3D printing, is not food safe).

One of the most interesting applications of 3D printing came from Italy. Dr Renato Favero, former primary doctor at the hospital of Gardone Valtrompia, realised they didn't have enough C-PAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) masks for sub-intensive therapy, so he got in touch with a Brescia-based company, Isinnova, a startup founded by Cristian Fracassi, that was already making 3D valves for respirators. The doctor was familiar with the "Easybreath" full-face snorkeling mask sold by European sports retailer Decathlon and was thinking about a way to transform the device into a respirator.

Decathlon eventually provided a CAD drawing of their snorkeling mask and Isinnova studied it and then produced a 3D-printed valve called "Charlotte" that can be attached to the mask and connected to the oxygen tube (there is also an additional valve called "Dave" that can be used for the reservoir). The first prototype in polylactic acid or polylactide (PLA) was printed in a couple of hours.Then the company started working on more prototypes in a light-sensitive resin and polyamide-12-coated aluminum powder that needed a longer production time (24 hours).

A test at the Chiari hospital in the province of Brescia proved that it was possible to attach the mask with the valve to the oxygen tube and create in this way a non-invasive ventilator that was successfully tested on a patient. As the news spread, giving hospitals hopes for an emergency solution, Decathlon announced it will donate 10,000 "Easybreath" masks to Italian hospitals (people willing to help should buy and donate a mask, rather than donating their own as the latter would have to be sterilised and that would mean money and time...).

The downside of this project is that these masks can only be employed for emergencies as they are uncertified for this purpose and they can only be used with the signed approval of the patient. 

The good news is that, while the patent for the "Charlotte "valve is being sought to prevent price speculations, this remains an open source project like the CURA pods we looked at yesterday, so all makers can print the valves and in this way hospitals all over the world can use this emergency device.

There have actually been makers who took the project further: another Italian 3D printing company, SolidEnergy, explained that the valves designed by Isinnova must be adapted to tubes and filters that are different from hospital to hospital, so they created a valve that allows to connect the mask also to an artificial respirator; besides, they also found a way to insert industrial P3 filters in the mask and turn it into a comfortable and protective device for medical staff. Design may not be able to find the cure for Coronavirus, but it will definitely help scientists and medical staff buying time for a vaccine and saving lives. 

Architectures of Emergency: CURA - Connected Units for Respiratory Ailments

The 17th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice may have been postponed until 29th August because of the Coronavirus outbreak, but architecture isn't stopping in this emergency.

Quite a few architects and designers have indeed been working on projects to improve people's conditions and to help hospitals and health professionals. Among them there is Italian Professor Carlo Ratti, founder of Carlo Ratti Associati studio and Director of the Senseable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Yet Ratti is not alone, but he is part of an international group of architects, designers, engineers, doctors, military experts and NGOs that developed an open-source project called "CURA", a word that in Latin and Italian means "cure" or "treatment", but in this case also an acronym standing for "Connected Units for Respiratory Ailments". Beware, though, this is not your average field hospital: CURA consists indeed in converting 20-foot intermodal shipping containers into plug-in Intensive-Care Units (ICU) for COVID-19 patients. The units - each destined to two COVID-19 intensive-care patients - work autonomously, but the pods can be connected using an inflatable structure to create multiple modular configurations (from 4 beds to over 40).

The units can be mounted as fast as hospital tents, but they are as safe as an isolation ward as they are characterised by a biocontainment: an extractor creates indoor negative pressure, complying with the standards of Airborne Infection Isolation Rooms (AIIRs).

The pods can be deployed in cities around the world (shipping containers can easily be moved through different modes of transport - from ship to rail or truck), responding in relatively short times to the shortage of ICU space in hospitals and the spread of the disease.

Once arrived, the units can be installed anywhere, from a hospital parking lot to expand the main hospital capacity, to a field hospital. The first unit is currently being built in Milan, Italy, with the sponsorship of European bank UniCredit.

The project was the immediate answer to the main problem caused by the pandemic, first in China, then in Italy and now all over the world, as the virus has quickly spread from Asia to Europe and America as well.

So far both China and Italy responded by creating makeshift emergency hospitals in tents, tensile structures or prefabricated wards (Chinese company Winsun also came up with 3D-printed isolation wards - concrete pods built using a robotic arm - for Xianning Central Hospital). In Italy there has also been a debate about reopening or adapting hospitals that were closed down or repurposing existing buildings.

Yet tents are not ideal as the risk of contamination for medical staff is higher, while prefabricated structures and existing buildings that need to be readapted imply longer times.

CURA is as fast to mount as a hospital tent, but as safe as a hospital's isolation ward to work in, thanks to biocontainment. The pods also tackle the sustainability aspect as the project consists in readapting shipping containers. Once converted into CURA units, the pods can be re-used in different parts of the world.

The CURA units are developed in an open-source, non-for-profit framework and the team behind the project also solicits suggestions and improvements.

Ratti and the international team that joined the project (comprising more than 100 people) worked on the project from their own homes, with meetings on Zoom and Skype and exchanging projects and ideas via email, and they should be praised for finding a solution that could buy scientists more time to find a cure and a vaccine.

Let's hope that, once the Coronavirus emergency is over (and let's hope that happens soon), architecture festivals like the Venice Biennale will develop sections and awards dedicated to emergency projects (to tackle issues such as climate change, pandemics, earthquakes...) as this is a key area that must definitely be explored more with fast and scalable solutions. 

Postcards from Milan: Cinzia Ruggeri's 1986 "Fluxus Runway" + "Mefisto Funk" Costumes

Lombardy is the Italian region that got most badly affected by Coronavirus, so let's virtually visit Milan today, going back in time with two videos recently posted by Marco Poma's Metamorphosi Editrice YouTube channel (with many thanks to Milan-based crocheter extraordinaire Aldo Lanzini who alterted us about the videos being posted).

The first one refers to the 1986 "Fluxus" runway by the late designer Cinzia Ruggeri: the recorded catwalk showed models in constant movement walking from one screen to the next (spot in the video Corrado Levi's "Gioielli guaritori" for Cinzia Ruggeri). The video was projected on two parallel screens during the actual runway with models who statically posed in front of the screens.

The second video is a trailer for the film "Mefisto Funk" (1986) directed by Poma that featured Ruggeri's costumes.

The first video should make us think: this was one of the first attempts at recording a fashion show and at using the film to amplify the content and message of a runway and at interpreting them in an arty rather than merely commercial way. 

When Coronavirus started spreading the shows in Milan were ending and some designers like Armani decided to present their collections behind closed doors. A few weeks have passed since then and now the entire world has gone into a major shutdown and many of us have been confined to their houses for days. So what will happen to fashion shows at the end of this pandemic? Will the video format definitely prevail or will real and theatrical shows be popular again?  

"Mefisto Funk" was an experimental reinterpretation of Goethe's Faust, with some philosophical questions that seem to be apt even in our days and in the modern fashion industry (in the film Mefisto asked the protagonist if he prefers watching without being watched or watching and being watched, something that seem to anticipate the power of surveillance cameras in our society but also our obsession with selfies).

Did modern fashion ever reference the designs/costumes in these videos? Well, spot the shirts with Ruggeri's handpainted portrait of Frankenstein's monster and you will immediately start wondering if Miuccia Prada remembered these 1986 designs when she designed her Menswear, Pre-Fall and Womens' collection for the last season and was indirectly paying homage to it when she used the monster as inspiration for her designs. Who knows, the dilemma remains. But, in the meantime, you can go and check out the other videos on Poma's Metamorphosi Editrice YouTube channel: quite a few of them are linked with architecture, design and fashion in Milan in the '80s and they will prove inspiring and will keep Lombardy in our thoughts as we hope the COVID-19 outbreak slows down and comes to a halt there, in Italy and in the rest of the world.

Cinematic Obituary (With Some Fashion Notes): Lucia Bosè (1931-2020)

Actress Lucia Bosè died yesterday at the General Hospital of Segovia at the age of 89 from pneumonia complicated by COVID-19.

Born in 1931 in Milan, from Domenico Borloni and Francesca Bosè, the actress was discovered by Luchino Visconti while she worked in a Milanese pastry shop, Pasticceria Galli.

In 1947 Bosè won the Miss Italia beauty contest and had her big break in 1950 with Giuseppe De Santis' film Non c'è pace tra gli ulivi (Under the Olive Tree).

In the same year she appeared in another film, Cronaca di un amore (The Story of a Love Affair) by Michelangelo Antonioni. Three years later, the Italian director also chose her for the main role in another film, La signora senza camelie (The Lady Without Camelias, 1953).

In the film Bosè stars as Clara Manni, a young shop assistant who, discovered by a film producer, becomes an actress. In this film fashion is used to show Clara's progress from rags to riches.

But there is another movie linked with high fashion in which Bosè appeared - Le Ragazze di Piazza di Spagna (Three Girls from Rome, 1952) by Luciano Emmer.

This film that follows the vicissitudes of Marisa, Elena and Lucia, three young seamstresses and the movie was in part shot at the atelier of the Fontana sisters (Zoe Fontana has a cameo in the film), that was based near the Spanish Steps. Bosè starred as one of the three seamstresses working at the Sorelle Fontana atelier who one day gets the chance to star in a high fashion runway show.

In 1955 Bosè married Spanish bullfighter Luis Miguel González Dominguin and retired from the screen after she had three children, Miguel, Paola and Lucía. She returned to cinema in the late '60s, after her divorce, appearing in Fellini's Fellini Satyricon (1969), in the Taviani Brothers' Under the Sign of Scorpio (1969), Mario Colucci's Something Creeping in The Dark (1971), Liliana Cavani's The Guest (1971), Giulio Questi's Arcana (1972) and Marguerite Duras' Nathalie Granger (1972).

She continued to be active in Italian and Spanish films and starred also in Francesco Rosi's Cronaca di una morte annunciata (Chronicle of a Death Foretold, 1987) and Ferzan Özpetek's Harem suaré (1999). During the last decades Bosè often appeared on television shows or in films in her trademark electric blue hair, a fierce hairstyle that she opted for as a sign of rebellion since, as she often revealed in interviews, she always longed to be different.

There are great connections with fashion in some of her films: in Antonioni's Cronaca di un amore (Story of a Love Affair), Bosè starred next to costume designer Ferdinando Sarmi who appeared in the movie as Enrico Fontana. Sarmi, who worked on the film with a young designer from Naples, Fausto Sarli, left Italy shortly afterwards, moving to the States where he became head designer for Elizabeth Arden and where, years later, he opened his own boutiques.

Lucia Bosè, was only nineteen when the film was shot, but Antonioni remembered in an interview how, after they dressed her up in Haute Couture creations and extraordinary jewels, she turned into a real lady. The lavish furs, the rich evening gowns and the avant-garde hats worn by the actress had a sociological purpose in the film: they had to highlight the emptiness, alienation and futility of the upper middle-classes who hid their loneliness, frustrations and banality behind luxurious items of clothing. In the film fashion and luxury are associated with the dissoluteness and perversion of the female protagonist, a stereotypical femme fatale.

In La signora senza camelie (The Lady Without Camelias, 1953) Bosè was dresssed by the prestigious Sartoria Battilocchi, an Italian Haute Couture fashion house founded in the 1920s in Rome by Aurora Battilocchi. The dresses produced by Battilocchi were famous for their precise cut, luxurious fabrics and refined details and were perfect to highlight Clara's transformation.

Exquisite and lavish fabrics such as satin and silk were chosen for the evening dresses Bosè wore, complemented by accessories such as leather gloves, belts and bags, while plush leopard furs by the Venice-based Riele were used as a symbol of the status Clara reached at the climax of her career. You can discover more about this film in a previous post about it or you can rewatch one of Bosè's films to get inspired by her stylish attires.