The interdisciplinary "annual theme" of Prof. Dr. Marina-Elena Wachs, on "sketching and greening the (design) future", asks for a greater consumer responsibility, in trade and handling with packaging possibilities and morals: wrapping, wrapping mail that is reused, for textile, fashion design and packaging (and landscaping) design! Landscapes and buildings evoke in the question of "packaging", smart sustainable covering, a change in the way we deal with objects and media, for the sake of the (surrounding) world and us humans.
An ethically sustainable "material - and cultural behavior" looks at our resources of the future: this semester focusing on water, water scarcity, water consumption, processes and rituals with water in everyday life and holidays. Thus, textile engineering is to lead into the next technical, material, feasible level ...

 textile sketching textile - design by "a wo/man not a mannequin"

"sketching the world! with your...statement!" We want to design analogously by hand, but also explore concepts for a more physically initiated sketching in virtual space using textile materials and surfaces. A change in the handling of media, objects and the (surrounding) world is obvious. How will we deal with the design process and media in a sustainable way tomorrow after the digitalization phase, which is currently taking place intensively?

Fleur de FASHION: Inspiration and discovery following the Humboldt brothers or other representations of nature, added by postmodern expressions by Barbara Kasten's oeuvre. Including - multisensory - material, this interdisciplinary project serves to search for alternatives, for a change in the world of the 21st century. Fleur de Fashion wants to generate hybrids and collaborations, collaborations of media + sciences, analogue + digital, yesterday’s world of knowledge (Humboldt's) + tomorrow’s (avatars), of design disciplines + cultural studies.

Inspired by the "Culture Sensible" (cf.: Université de Liège) and a networked thinking, working and research, it provides a fund to actively create hybrid systems in design. The Blue Hour changes towards a relaxation hour, i.e. Sustainable and Smart Fashion Solutions can be experienced with other senses...- 

...(accidental) inventions and discoveries are explored, discoveries that sometimes require not only knowledge, but passion, instinct... the "flow" in creating, - in design, which is not nourished by intellect alone.

Under the motto "Wandel", students from the Department of Textile and Clothing Technology at Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences will present their creations at the National Press Ball on 29 November 2019 at the Hotel Adlon in Berlin. The idea for this unique performance for the students came into life at the beginning of June 2019 on the occasion of the PolitFashion Night in Berlin. The Department of Textile and Clothing Technology of Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences convinced not only the NRW state father Armin Laschet, but also the representatives of Bundespresseball GmbH and one of this year's partners, the Gesamtverband textil+mode, with their fashion show.

TEXTILEPOP is a collaboration with NRW-Forum Düsseldorf, Hochschule Niederrhein – University of Applied Sciences and European Guests, which shows all of the possible textile competence fields in Design / Engineering / Management with focus on SUSTAINABILITY within four exposition spaces. In addition TEXTILEPOP tries to sketch and to research innovative tools of education programs for school and applied solutions for the industry in non-hierarchical format: from school to university, to the circular industry management.
The exposition takes place in the week of the Election of European Parliament: 2019!

The expo „TEXTILEPOP - Europeans together in SUSTAINABLE design / engineering / management“, at NRW-Forum, (Düsseldorf 23^rd to 27^th of May 2019) will frame the exclusive workshops, guided tours and interaction playground for children.

- sustainable SMART solutions in Design/Engineering/Management.

... listen to the design...feel and touch the rhythm ...come to common characteristics in design / engineering / management .. together for strong European partnerships…

The interdisciplinary, cross cultural and interactive project “Design is Music is Design – European United!” (2019), part of a research project of Prof. Dr. Marina-Elena Wachs, is focusing on connecting different senses! The linkage will connect to other cultures in design / engineering from Europe, for a better understanding of the post-digital demands in „industry“, to come to new design scenarios – innovative solutions: SUSTAINABLE AND SMART AND and MULTI-SENSUAL…

 “Design is music – music is design: European united! Sketching the design/engineering future together in non hierarchical patterns...”
(Marina-Elena Wachs, 2018)

This publication documents a selection of outstanding artistic and engineering case studies which were completed as part of several high-level BA and MA student projects by the Faculty of Textile and Clothing Technology at the Hochschule Niederrhein (University of Applied Sciences), Mönchengladbach, Germany. The results of the projects and research evidence the extensive range of creative potential, scope of technical design, compliance with sustainability demands as well as the success of combined engineering solutions. They also show the excellent standard of interdisciplinary networking between the teaching staff in various scientific and design disciplines as well as with partners from the industry in the Lower Rhine region, Europe and beyond.
The design and management concepts and works of art focus on the following topics: Textile Technology, Art of Textiles, New Interior Solutions, Textile Industry 4.0, Sustainable Design Concepts, Design Transfer, Female Statements and Smart Future. 
Presentation of the projects is supplemented by statements of the teaching staff, as well by as reports of external great experts and journalists.

We invite you to accompany us on a journey through the creative, innovative, smart, sustainable world of textile design research and (T)experiments of the future.

Prof. Dipl.-Des. Ellen Bendt
Prof. Dr. Dipl.-Des. Marina-Elena Wachs

The interdisciplinary design project Textile ArchiSculpture (2018/19) (originally "Textile ArchiSkulptur"), initiated by Prof. Dr- Marina Wachs, aims at highlighting the textile cultural heritage in North Rhine-Westphalia and to concretise its sustainable (inter-) cultural value. Moreover, it targets to connect through European textile expertise and to design future textile (digital) sustainable worlds via a transfer of characteristics of these special locations of textiles, design patterns and design parameters in fashion and textile design as well as in architecture. 
Every student does this as "design driver" with a very individual signature, a special identification with textiles. 

"The beauty in design – aesthetics and functions caused by combining analogue with digital processing"

"BLUE is the new GREEN in the the debate of sustainability in design" (Wachs).

This thesis was the beginning of a new interdisciplinary topic which is explored at the Faculty of Textile and Clothing Technology in the scope of research projects, final theses and semester works. 

The interdisciplinary project „The German Look - advanced TEXTILE solutions", which will be presented in 2015, will show a collection of several BA- and MA-student projects and research works of Master students - with the help of 6 categories: Smart Textiles and Mobility in Fashion, Luxury and Sustainability, Design concepts...for a better world, Textile Porcelain, Smart mobility to go, Kids world.

Within the Wool School Project of the Campaign for Wool eleven Master students of the Faculty of Textile and Clothing Technology of the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences in Mönchengladbach developed wonderful white wool outfits according to the topic of sustainable virgin wool, under the guidance of Prof. Ellen Bendt - professor for fashion design with focus on knitted and innovative product design - and Prof. Dr. Marina-Elena Wachs - professor for design theory.