Materials & Applications in partnership with Craft Contemporary presents Veil Craft, an outdoor architectural installation that responds to the materiality of construction in Los Angeles, drawing upon not just building practices but also craft techniques that speak to domesticity, fashion, and the body.

Even as the pandemic brought Los Angeles public life to a halt, construction continued, unabated and deemed an essential activity. Shimmering veils of green, white, orange, and black construction textiles are found across the city, their presence signalling many things: perhaps a future shelter for those without or, more often than not, a simple indication for the public to keep out. Referred to often as construction tarps or debris netting, these robust, porous, and colourful textiles have inadvertently become a near permanent facade aesthetic through the ubiquity of construction in the city of Los Angeles. 

Veil Craft is an architectural installation made from these textiles, transforming the courtyard of Craft Contemporary into an unexpected pocket park. The installation aims to activate an interest in the overlooked materiality of our built environment, bringing together expert and non-expert publics in conversation about Los Angeles’s material culture.