Open Textile

Shu-Lin Lin

Xiaojing Li

Introduction

Tweedbank now is the terminus of Boarder Railway that runs between the Central Boarders and Edinburgh. When we first arrived at Tweedbank, it looked like nothing there. The first image came into our minds was that it is a town lacking of vitality. In the future, the Tapestry museum will be located here. On the other hand, the School of Textiles & Design in Heriot-Watt University is really close to Tweedbank. In order to bring more tourists and improve the economy in Tweedbank, combining these two features with a textile demonstration factory could be the most attractive point. Not only the traditional culture will be preserved, but also the local design and high-quality fabrics will be promoted.

The issues

According to the feedbacks from the residents in Tweedbank and the researches, we concluded these facts into the two main aspects.

Weak economy of community in Tweedbank

Tweedbank railway station was built by  BAM Nuttall opening on 6 September 2015. It is the terminus of the Borders Railway that runs between the Central Borders and Edinburgh. The Boarder railway create the opportunity to bring more tourists to visit Tweedbank, but there is not enough attractive to lure people to spend more time staying there.

Lack of the opportunity of working and internship for students

The School of Textiles & Design in Heriot-Watt University stated that 85% students who graduate from Design for Textiles are working six months after graduating, and 80% of those working are in professional/ managerial position. For the reason that the lack of working opportunity, most of students need to search for satisfied job in other cities rather than in Tweedbank.

The proposal

Our plan is to build a Textile Demonstration Factory which encourages the development of cultural and rural tourism to sustain local textile cultures and traditions. The tourism industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world and is becoming increasingly important. This importance is as a result of immense benefits derived from the industry.

We can take all the equipment from the old mill in Selkirk and put it into the new demonstration factory.

Anybody can come here and pay for the use of facilities for a day in order to use  these equipment to make their own fabric . The Demonstration Factory can have all the industrial sewing machine or spinning machine, and it can also have the latest 3D sewing machine for people to create digital stuff. All these happening behind shop which sales textile stuff. When visitors are there,  they can actually see people making textile .It is a gallery but also a working studio with big window. Creative artists can work here , and  people visiting here can just see what they are doing.

This project is a business development project .The demonstration factory is just like a leverage point which can help developing local textile industry.

Case study

1. Queen Street Mill Textile Museum

Queen Street Mill is a Grade 1 listed building in Harle Syke, a suburb to the north-east of Burnley, Lancashire. It was built in 1894 for the Queen Street Manufacturing Company. It closed on 12 March 1982 and was mothballed, but was subsequently taken over by Burnley Borough Council and maintained as a museum. In the 1990s ownership passed to Lancashire Museums. Unique in being the world’s only surviving operational steam-driven weaving shed, it received an Engineering Heritage Award in November 2010. It is open to visitors and offers weaving demonstrations. It is the worlds only surviving 19th century steam powered weaving mill. Bringing steam powered weaving to life.

2. Treasure Hill Artist Village

Treasure Hill Artist Village is situated in a historical milieu of Taiwan centered on Treasure Hill Temple, a municipal historical site, and extending generally to the surrounding settlement

Treasure Hill Artist Village has 14 studios, where both Taiwanese and international artists can work and live.It  includes a rehearsal room, exhibition room and outdoor exhibition space. Viewed from the riverside lawn downhill, the entire stretch of crumbling old walls seems like a cross-section of history, forming clues by which to read the rich historical texture of Treasure Hill and the multifarious meanings of its spatial composition. The 7-room Attic Treasure Hill Traveler’s Hostel will formally open its doors to the public soon. The hostel will serve as a pathway to the settlement, attempting to reveal the traces of time through its spatial dimension. 

Central to this revitalization effort was the idea of transforming the area into an artist village by taking advantage of its uniquely mixed urban-ecological construction.

Location

We have identified a site for the Demonstration Factory. It would stand near the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA), and people can take only 8 minutes to get Tweedbank station. People from all over Scotland would be able to arrive here conveniently. The Tweedbank site is easily accessible by road.

References

1.Artistvillage.org, (2016). Taipei Artist Village and Treasure Hill Artist Village. [online] Available at: http://www.artistvillage.org/?page_id=225&lang=en [Accessed 20 Feb. 2016].

2.Hw.ac.uk, (2016). Design for Textiles (Fashion, Interior, Art) BA (Hons) – Undergraduate study | Heriot-Watt University Scottish Borders. [online] Available at: http://www.hw.ac.uk/undergraduate/design-for-textiles-fashion-interior-art.htm [Accessed 20 Feb. 2016].

3.“Queen Street Mill Textile Museum:People”. Burnley: Lancashire County Council. 2011.[Accessed 20 Feb. 2016].

4.ROUNDAIWANround, (2016). Treasure Hill in Taipei City. [online] Available at: http://www.rtaiwanr.com/taipei-city/treasure-hill [Accessed 20 Feb. 2016].

5.Scotborders.gov.uk, (2014). Move to bring Scotland’s history to the Borders – Scottish Borders Council. [online] Available at: http://www.scotborders.gov.uk/news/article/824/move_to_bring_scotlands_history_to_the_borders [Accessed 20 Feb. 2016].

6.Visitscotland.com, (2016). Tweedbank. [online] Available at: https://www.visitscotland.com/info/towns-villages/tweedbank-p1198421 [Accessed 20 Feb. 2016].