Amazing Textiles Explore the Sense of Touch

Five years ago, Emily Fischer launched a startup studio called Haptic Lab that designs and creates products that explore the sense of touch, including handmade kites and intricately stitched quilts. In celebration of the Brooklyn-based studio’s fifth anniversary this month, Dwell talked with Fischer about the inspiration behind her designs. Slideshow

Haptic Lab is comprised of a small group of artisans and designers. An architect by trade, Fischer strove to move away from the strictly visual tendencies of architecture. “My mom was diagnosed with glaucoma and macular degeneration while I was studying architecture at the University of Michigan back in 2002," Fischer says. "As a design student, it occurred to me that architects and designers always privilege the visual over the tactile; design should ideally satisfy a wide range of sensation.”