SOFT POWER - ALEKSANDRA GACA AND HER 3D TEXTILES

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Aleksandra Gaca © Paulina Matusiak & Eddy Wenting

The essentially structural principles that relate the work of building and weaving could form the basis of a new understanding between the architect and the inventive weaver. New uses of fabrics and new fabrics could result from a collaboration; and textiles, so often no more than an afterthought in planning, might take a place again as a contributing thought.
— Anni Albers (1957)

In her essay ‘The Pliable Plane’, Anni Albers argued that textiles are not only decorative elements but are fundamental to both public and private spaces. She predicted a future where weaving and architecture would intersect - a collaboration that could bring about new materials, new applications, and a more integrated approach to design.

Today, as sustainability reshapes design priorities, textiles are experiencing quite a renaissance across industries, including  architecture. But for Aleksandra Gaca, a pioneer of three-dimensional textiles this is not a new concept or a passing trend. Exploring unorthodox applications for fabric has been the foundation of her work for decades. “One day, we will be building with textiles.” she asserts. To her, textiles are not just materials; they are structures in their own right. She often likens her process of interlacing warp and weft to creating a construction, building a skeleton.

A Poland-born, Netherlands-based, multiple award-winning textile designer, she produces work that defies convention. Her mastery lies in the interplay of material, colour, and pattern, creating textiles with both function and emotion. The Dutch Design Week jury once aptly captured the essence of her approach, calling it “poetic design with endless possibilities.”

Her textiles can be found in embassies, government buildings and  airports. They complement concept cars and private jet interiors, and grace the facades of luxury fashion boutiques. They reside in museum collections and elevate living spaces, from smart, acoustic wall panels to cosy, homey  poufs.

Passionate and relentless, Aleksandra Gaca thrives on challenges. Tell her something is impossible, and she will prove otherwise. Throughout her career, she has expanded the potential of textiles, pushing them beyond decoration into the realms of sound engineering, well-being, automotive and spatial experience.  Gaca reminds us that fabric is not just a surface but an active participant in shaping how we live, work, and feel.

Her career has been marked by extraordinary concepts and prestigious collaborations, but it has never been a story of overnight success. A slow burner, she has built her path through a fearless work ethic, insatiable curiosity, and a refusal to settle for the expected. Often, the market took time to catch up with her ideas, but she never lacked the confidence to push forward.

Here, we take a look at the milestones that have defined her fruitful career. From persistent beginnings to acclaimed projects that truly broke new ground and introduced new narratives to textile conversation.

Aleksandra Gaca by Eric de Vries

BEGINNINGS

Aleksandra Gaca was born in Łódź, a Polish city with a deep-rooted textile heritage. In fact, textiles run in her family history too. Her father was a textile machinery engineer, and her great-grandfather a cloth maker. From an early age, she was captivated by fabric’s creative potential, sewing clothes and making shoes. Textiles were the foundation for all her creative ideas. Pleats, folds, and structure fascinated her, shaping her instinct to see fabric in three dimensions.

At 22, she left Poland for the Netherlands, graduating from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague in 1997. She initially enrolled in a fashion design programme but soon realised that her true passion lay not in fashion itself, but in textiles. Fashion, she discovered, was simply a means for her fabrics to take up space, whereas weaving offered something far greater - the ability to create material from scratch and shape not only patterns but entire dimensions.

Her creative DNA is a fusion of influences - Poland’s rich textile legacy, the artistic freedom of Dutch design culture, and her own experimental approach. The vision of Magdalena Abakanowicz, who liberated textiles from their traditionally wall-bound role and transformed them into autonomous, sculptural forms, deeply fascinated Aleksandra. That boundary-breaking approach clearly characterises Gaca’s work too, as she continually challenges conventions—defying the lines between art, design, and architecture.

COSMOS - THE BREAKTHROUGH

Following her graduation, Aleksandra Gaca took the expected route for a young textile designer - creating curtain fabrics for various companies. Yet, even as she worked within the industry’s commercial framework, she remained dedicated to her personal exploration of three-dimensional textile concepts. “Producers admired my 3D designs but wouldn’t buy them. They didn’t believe they were suitable for production—they called them works of art” she recalls with a smile. While industry hesitated, Aleksandra believed the two - work of art and production wasn't mutually exclusive.

She believed textiles could be both expressive and functional. It found validation in 2002 when her work caught the attention of Ferdynand Visser, founder of Hybrids + Fusion. Recognising the potential of her experimental approach, Visser collaborated with Gaca to develop Cosmos (photos above) —her very first industrially produced 3D textile. More than just visually alluring, Cosmos redefined what textiles could do. Durable, multipurpose, and structurally innovative, it was equally suited for upholstery, acoustic applications and carpets.
This project marked a turning point in Gaca’s career, proving that her 3D textiles weren’t just conceptual ideas but were absolutely viable, in-demand solutions that could transform interiors at scale.

SLUMBER pouffes (2023); photo by Eddy Wenting

SLUMBER pouffes

SLUMBER

Following on, Aleksandra Gaca turned her focus to natural materials and spatial construction. She chose to work with soft wool and mohair - materials that offered a comforting sensory experience, less technical than the synthetic fibers. Geometric forms served as the foundation for texture, which she magnified five- and tenfold to create a new sense of dimension. “I started experimenting with bindings, constructions, and new materials,” she explains. “It resulted in a series of soft but strongly dimensional fabrics with robust geometric patterns. The fabric was called Slumber. To emphasise its movement and three-dimensionality, I used it to create a spatial object.”

Developed in 2004 for the TextielMuseum in Tilburg, Slumber became part of the museum’s permanent collection through a series of sculptural pouffes. In 2011, high-end Belgian brand Casalis brought Slumber into its range of interior textile products. The collection was met with acclaim and remains available today, which only shows the timeless appeal of Aleksandra’s vision.

Designed to cocoon the sitter, the pouffes adapt to the body’s shape before effortlessly bouncing back. Though technically woven, the surface of the fabric often invites comparisons to the nostalgic warmth of a grandmother’s hand-made knit. Slumber evokes this feeling of cosiness and safety, translated into a refined product for contemporary interiors.

FLORO fabric for Iris Van Herpen © Studio Matusiak & Eddy Wenting

ARCHITEXTILES - FLORO fabric

FASHION

While Gaca’s textiles possess a strong sense of autonomy, their thick, sculptural quality makes them seem an unlikely choice for wearables—except in statement fashion. Her work found its way onto the runway through a collaboration with Iris van Herpen, the Dutch designer known for her avant-garde fusion of fashion and technology. For the Fall/Winter 2015/2016 collection, van Herpen incorporated FLORO, a grid-like, 3D textile, which perfectly aligned with the otherworldly aesthetic of the van Herpen’s lineup.
Gaca’s textiles also found application in luxury retail interiors, through a collaboration with Hermès. Rena Dumas Architecture Intérieure (RDAI), the firm responsible for designing all Hermès stores, invited her to create bespoke woven installations for the brand’s storefronts. The success of her first project in Wuxi led to further commissions in Asia, including Shanghai, Harbin and Seoul. “It was fascinating to work across such different scales—from focusing on a single thread to creating monumental site-specific installations,” she recalls.

Hermès Wuxi project (2009)

This project was a true showcase of Gaca’s mastery of colour and texture, demonstrating her ability to create impact through subtle variations and refined detail. Her debut commission for Hermès Wuxi featured a striking 10-meter-high woven façade.  It was a study in rhythmic texture and tonal gradient, achieved through a highly precise, almost mathematical application of yarn. “The nine nuances of color, from flame red to deep aubergine, were achieved using just three shades of red yarn” she explains. Irregular golden stripes and carefully spaced floats introduced a vertical rhythm to the fabric resulting in a mesmerising effect—both monumental from afar and intricate up close. 
Her most recent (2024) collaboration with RDAI has been realised for Hermès boutique in France.

Rhombus+Bloko Architextiles Art Panels @AleksandraGaca

TEXTILES AND ARCHITECTURE

Throughout her career, Aleksandra Gaca has consistently pushed the boundaries of textile design—whether by introducing new dimensions, experimenting with placement, or uncovering unexpected functionalities. Her Architextiles series, which she has been developing since 2007, shows this spirit of exploration very well.  Those woven structures are designed not only for visual impact but also for acoustic performance. Their ribbed surfaces significantly enhance sound absorption compared to flat fabrics, while also playing with light and shadow in dynamic ways. As wall coverings, dividing screens, or standalone interior elements, they introduce texture, depth, and a sculptural quality that transforms architectural spaces.

Materiality plays a central role in the series, with Gaca achieving a delicate balance of contrasts through unexpected juxtapositions—matte against sheen, rigid with soft, synthetic intertwined with natural, and technical innovations paired with artisanal craftsmanship. “In Architextiles, I combine the technical aspects of the Cosmos collection with the softness of Slumber.” explains Gaca.

CELLO fabric, Acoustic Panels by Casalis; designed by Aleksandra Gaca
different applications - Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Van der Valk Hotel Beveren and home interior

The series emerged, in part, as a response to the cold sterility often found in modern architecture. Aleksandra sought to bring warmth and human touch back into contemporary spaces, drawing inspiration from the rich tradition of kilims and translating their tactile essence into a refined, modern design. “In the past, textiles were an important part of interiors. Over the last few decades, with the rise of increasingly minimalist buildings and interiors, as well as the use of hard materials like glass, concrete and stone,textiles have slowly disappeared from our spaces.” she notices. In an increasingly digitised world amid global turbulence, the climate crisis, and a quiet accumulation of everyday stress, people are yearning for peace, stillness, and a sense of safety, both at home and in public spaces. Aleksandra believes that “Textiles can contribute to creating a functional, healthy, and pleasant environment.”.

Lino Play vitrage (2022)

For Aleksandra Gaca, architecture is a fascinating and inspiring field - not only for its form, but for the very logic behind its construction.“I see textiles progressing from a flat surface to a dimensional construction, from the wall to an independent object in space—and ultimately into a space itself,” she explains. “In my design process, I think in threads, constructions, and surfaces. I actually build with threads.” True to her pioneering approach, Gaca envisions the integration of textile structural materials into architecture as a vital step forward in building design. “In my long-term research on three-dimensional textiles, I view the textile constructions as tiny spaces, and explore ways to increase their scale to reach an architectural level.”

Woven Walls by Aleksandra Gaca; Buitenplaats Doornburgh; photo by Eric de Vries

Although still in the conceptual phase, she constantly refines her ideas, experimenting with materials and testing prototypes as opportunities arise. “These ideas have been in my mind for years. I’ve written them down and sketched them countless times. It’s still a long way to go, but I believe one day we’ll be building with textiles” she shares. Aleksandra sees the unique properties of textiles such as flexibility, lightness, and recyclability, as offering exciting potential for sustainable alternatives in architectural construction.  Possibly even as cladding for building exteriors - “I find the architectural theories on the ‘cladding’ of a building, often called by architects the ‘skin,’ very interesting and inspiring,” she reflects.

Gaca’s first step towards self-supporting spatial structures on an architectural scale was created in 2014 for the exhibition Building with Textiles at the TextielMuseum. "I developed BLOKO, a fabric that folds easily, which inspired me to create a three-dimensional wall—on which the BLOKO fabric could stand freely in space," she explains. "But the textile itself, thanks to its flexibility and distinctive pattern, already offered numerous possibilities. In the following years, it became the starting point for my exploration into the creation of three-dimensional spatial constructions."

BLOKO fabric from Architextiles series

BLOKO Architextiles Art Panel

Adaptations of BLOKO textile found exciting applications, including as upholstery in visionary design projects. One such collaboration was with Renault on Symbioz, an innovative concept imagining the integration of mobility and home.  In this project Gaca translated Renault’s philosophy into a woven form adapting BLOKO into a new version designed as a connective element between the car and home interiors, unifying the two spaces. Applied to both the vehicle’s seats and the sofa in the conceptual living space the textile created a cohesive sensory experience - both visually and tactilely.

Another iteration of BLOKO was developed for the California-based textile manufacturer Momentum, as part of Gaca’s namesake debut corporate upholstery collection. Woven from recycled cotton, post-consumer polyester, and nylon, the range was brought to life in a bright, cheerful colour palette. Its three-dimensional, quilted surfaces introduced a pillowy softness and playful energy—designed to uplift and reintroduce tactility into office interiors.

Bloko for Momentum; Aleksandra Gaca Collection ©StudioMatusiak&EddyWenting

As innovation in textiles is surely gaining momentum, Aleksandra's visionary approach feels more relevant than ever. The only real challenge? Time, because her mind is brimming with ideas just waiting to be realised.
Asked about the future plans she shares “I want to continue my research, especially on 3D woven constructions for architectural scale” she says. “But beyond that, I see many opportunities for three-dimensional textiles in new applications—not only in interiors or architecture, but also in footwear, bags, and other technical materials. I’m always looking for innovation in construction, technique, and design, and I’m especially interested in working with new, more sustainable yarns, which are constantly emerging. Discovering new solutions and technologies is also a big part of what drives me.” she shares with passion.

Currently, she is also finalising her book WOVEN SPACE. It’s a comprehensive reflection on her fruitful three decades of work, tracing the evolution of her three-dimensional textiles. The book follows their progression from early structures to robust Architextiles and freestanding installations and presents a variety of examples showcasing the diverse applications of 3D textiles, including interior design. It highlights the value of textiles and their essential role in our environment.
Alongside Gaca’s visual record of her design progressions, the volume includes contributions from clients, collaborators, and architects, as well as thought-provoking essays by academics and curators offering deeper insight into her practice.
Undoubtedly, it will be a fantastic resource for anyone with a passion for textiles while also serving as an inspiration for the architectural field—encouraging the exploration of textiles as a key element in architecture and spatial design. Through real-world project examples, WOVEN SPACE demonstrates how textiles can help shape interiors, influence acoustics, affect light and shadow, and even evoke emotional responses in users.

For those visiting Poland, her work is currently on display at the National Museum in Kraków as part of Transformations. Modernity in the Third Polish Republic, an exhibition highlighting the country’s most influential figures in art, design, and architecture. The show offers a rare opportunity to experience her work within the broader landscape of contemporary Polish creatives. On view until June 18, 2025. Her work can also be admired within the permanent collections at the National Museum in Warsaw as well as the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in New York.


Follow Aleksandra’s  Instagram and explore her website to stay informed about her latest work and upcoming projects.

All images courtesy of Aleksandra Gaca. 
WORDS BY PAULINA CZAJOR