Draped on beds, hung on walls, used as room dividers or to soften floors, quilts are designed to solve human needs for comfort, beauty, and privacy. Quilts have long been interactive architecture.
But this prototype quilted wall will literally interact with you. Professor of Design Studies Dr. Mengni Zhang asks us to “imagine if the walls of your home were soft, quilted, layered, and interactive, able to respond to your emotions. Wouldn’t that deepen your connection to your room? Could architectural elements become companions, rather than just static structures?”
Though unconventional, this wall meets most definitions of a quilt: it is formed of three layers stitched together with thread. When you pass a hand over its sensors, changes in light cause motors to pull on threads, creating triangles on its surface. Patterns emerge that remind us of many of the historical quilts in this room and demonstrate the essential aesthetic and technical role of triangles.
Learn more about Mengni Zhang’s work, and help his research by answering a survey about your experience interacting with this work. https://uwmadison.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9XDlsaAGs3inXvg
Rustling Veil
Quilted wall
Mengni Zhang (b.1986)
with fabrication assistance from Anastasiya Kurova and Ely Rendon
Wisconsin, United States, 2025
Wood frame, MDF boards, metal rods, strings, elastic fabric, servo motors, custom 3-D printed brack
This video was made by Anya Williams and Joe Timmerman in collaboration with the Nancy M. Bruce Center for Design and Material Culture.