Elaine Yan Ling Ng

Elaine Ng Yan Ling is British Chinese smart textile designer currently based in Hong Kong/Beijing and a graduate of Central Saint Martins in London where she earned her MA Design in Textile Futures with distinction. She is a TED fellow and presented 'Naturology: The secret life of textiles' at TED Global Conference 2012 (Fellow Talk). Elaine is the founder of THE FABRICK LAB, which brings together textiles, electronics, biomimicry, interiors and installations. Elaine is globally recognized, having worked with international design companies such as Nissan Design Europe and Nokia Design Beijing with multi design awards. Her work has been exhibited at V&A and Science Museum in London, Harbour Front Centre in Toronto, Milan Design Week with Lidewij Edelkoort and Textil Museum, Tilburg and Espace EDF Art Foundation in Paris. Elaine's design principle is based on Biomimicry, focusing on hybrid materialisation of craft and technology. Exploring how natural elements can be manifest in man-made material to enhance modern architecture and interior design. Investigating the crossover between technology and biological systems, how the function of shape-memory alloys and the behaviour or natural elements can be incorporated into manmade materials for architecture and interior design. By programming shape memory materials Elaine explores how tectonic movement can be achieved through natural responses to heat, light and electricity. Woven and etched patterns respond to changes in environmental conditions such as light intensity or mechanical force. With a sustainable and eco-conscious design philosophy Elaine explores living urban textiles and their responses to sun, wind and rain. Techno-Naturology is Elaine's discovery in the relationship between natural formations and technology design. The concept of Naturology tectonic motion is not only about mimicing the behaviour of nature, but also a means of evoking natural movement within an urban landscape. With this design philosophy Elaine enhances the fluidity and functional responsiveness of architecture, creating harmony within our urban environment. Climatology is Elaine's latest work celebrating nature's survival tactics. A new experimental smart textile series, using the smartness of nature to create natural responsive movement. The delicate movement narrates the invisible energy that is constantly surrounding us. The movement is reflecting the change of moisture, heat and light. Her specialized craft skills are a cross disciplinarily use of woven textiles design and three-dimensional surface design of wooden materials. The result is a constructive textile that is both an art piece and a functional material for furnishing.