Bouroullec Brothers: Textile Field

Dynamic French design duo the Bouroullec Brothers have transformed the colossal space of the Raphael Gallery at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum with Textile Field, a polychromatic patchwork of cushions inspired by the Renaissance cartoons on the walls around. Made in conjunction with Danish fabric house Kvadrat as part of the London Design Festival, the massive 240-square-meter structure was pieced together panel by panel over a fourteen-hour nocturnal stint captured by photographer Ben Dunbar-Brunton. "When somebody is really comfortable physically there is a strange moment when the body and mind separate," explain the brothers of the project. "Normally here you feel the need to stand in silence. On the Textile Field the mind is freed to appreciate the space and the artworks." Open to the public from today, the undulating fabric invites visitors to pace, play and ponder upon the spongy surface in a bid to change the way we look and engage with art. Longtime contributors to the festival, the Bouroullecs’ collaboration with Kvadrat follows a celebrated run of partnerships with design houses such as Vitra and Ligne Roset, and precedes their first retrospective, to be held at the Pompidou–Metz in October.