The entrance installation at IDS – created by Toronto architecture firm RAW Design – is a massive curtain made of felt off-cuts and embedded with interactive technology.

Called Strip Tease, the 1,200-strand installation hangs above the escalators and is comprised of approximately 1,814 kilograms of felt. RAW principal Roland Rom Colthoff and co-collaborator Mark Tholen of TYYZ, a local architecture and industrial design firm, got their hands on 160 bags of the industrial material, stored it in a friend’s empty warehouse, and then figured out a way to use it.

Since last November, a small but dedicated team has been unpacking the 15-metre-long felt strips (a byproduct of giant polishing machines) and assembling them onto cable frames.

“We had a number of ideas for this project,” says Rom Colthoff, “but we really wanted to go beyond just a visual presentation.” The giant mass of felt allowed them to consider using the material like a curtain suitable for digital projections. At the top of the escalators visitors will find a wall made of micro tiles, courtesy of Christie Digital, that will let them manipulate the digital lighting effects projected onto the curtain through touch and motion.