TTRI Wins iF Gold Prize for “Fabric Garden”

In early March 2011, the government-funded Taiwan Textile Research Institute (TTRI) won the gold prize at the internationally-renowned iF product design award, sponsored by the Industrial Forum Design Hanover Germany, for the in-house developed “Fabric Garden,” an innovation that stood out among the 2,756 contenders from 43 nations.

The TTRI is the sole winner among research institutes to win gold this year, while only seven Taiwanese contenders achieved the same, including Qisda which won two golds, ADATA Technology Co., Ltd., IN WIN Development Co., Ltd., Shiangye Industrial Co., Ltd. and JIA Inc.

Cross-industry Cooperation
The Fabric Garden is the brainchild of between TTRI and the industrial design consulting firm—GIXIA Group—which has won 80-odd international design awards since its inception in 2010.

Arguably a further development of hydroponic cultivation and the concept of indoor agriculture, the Fabric Garden is a breakthrough in “soil-less cultivation.” Essentially a bio-compatible construction material, the Fabric Garden can be installed virtually anywhere, on walls, rooftops, balconies and indoor to cultivate plants on both sides. This innovation is installed as decoration on the outer wall of the Dream Hall at the 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo.

TTRI president Bai Chi-chung, Ph.D., says the Fabric Garden is the research institute's special technology project overseen by the Department of Industrial Technology (DOIT) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), adding that

the Fabric Garden is an innovative green construction material with multiple advantages as it has the potential to be developed to beautify balconies and small farms.

Patents & Know-how
Bai says the TTRI has patents and manufacturing know-how for the Fabric Garden, which, coupled with trendy design concepts and integrated resources, can create new applications to grow export opportunities.

To develop the Fabric Garden, the TTRI adopts eco-friendly manufacturing techniques that have been refined via experimentation, hence the new material meets worldwide eco-protection standards.

Inspired by the success of TTRI in developing the multi-functional fabric, M.C. Wu, director general of DOIT, says his department will promote integrating technologies with design capacity to enhance industrial effectiveness.

Light Fairy
Another of TTRI's winners at the 2011 iF is the “Light Fairy,” a comfortable raincoat with fabric-integrated LEDs.

Supposedly designed for cycling, the Light Fairy uses the newly-developed soft fabric with LED-integrated (light emitting diode) yarn that is waterproof and water-vapor permeable to offer better safety. Besides tapping the high-visibility point-source LED light in the safety-enhanced jacket, the Light Fairy doubles as warning light when rolled up.