studio ZELT installs textile canopy over Dekmantel stage
As Dekmantel Festival opens its 2025 edition in Amsterdamse Bos, the Netherlands, CURTAIN 01, an architectural installation by Dutch designer Johannes Offerhaus, introduces a constructed addition to the forest landscape. Designed under his practice ZELT Studio, the structure takes the form of a suspended textile canopy that stretches above the DJ booths at Selectors Stage, a longtime favorite among festivalgoers. Inspired by couture construction and spatial design, its function is to offer rain protection for DJs performing over the three-day event. Still, the project creates a distinct spatial atmosphere that mediates between the natural setting, the crowd, and the sonic intensity of live performance. ‘The initial idea was to suspend it between two trees,’ the designer tells us. ‘As the design and forces grew, this became impossible. Now there are four steel poles hidden between the trees that keep the whole installation suspended. This allows me to keep the rest of the details very lightweight and simple.‘
Suspended between the trees and held aloft by a complex system of ropes, aluminum, and steel, the tensile structure transforms the clearing into what light designer Zalán Szakács describes as ‘some kind of intergalactic sailing ship.’ Its curved, white textile surfaces ripple in the breeze and catch dappled light through the trees. ‘I always aim to make my installations visually interesting from all sides, even backstage,’ Johannes Offerhaus expresses. ‘In contrast to more traditional festival scenography, it doesn’t just look good facing forward — and from the back you’re not just looking at zip ties and stapled fabric. I aim to make sure the stage doesn’t just have a face, but that it is a space.’
images courtesy of ZELT Studio
a series of repeating, curved forms shapes CURTAIN 01
CURTAIN 01 is constructed entirely by hand from white textile through a meditative process of draping and sewing, drawing from Offerhaus’ early training in fashion. ‘Just like in a draping process where form-finding is done through the process of draping textile around a human body,’ he says, ‘I start modelling and prototyping with textiles. Only my canvas is not the human body anymore, it’s space.’
Designed specifically for the Selectors Stage of the festival, an intimate clearing surrounded by willow trees, the form takes cues from the natural setting. ‘It’s a very intimate stage with a lot of nice hazy sunlight moments,’ the designer and leader of the team at ZELT Studio notes. ‘The stage has a very clear identity that I could easily mess with too much.’
ZELT Studio’s canopy is suspended from steel anchors and held in place through a system of ropes and aluminum rods, allowing it to float above the heavy concrete stage element. The fabric is shaped into a series of repeating, curved forms, producing a rippling overhead surface that catches light and wind. Using a single color and consistent geometry lends the structure a calm visual presence, contrasting with the surrounding motion and sound. ‘While playing with the characteristics of curtains, this design evolved to three circular-shaped curtains hanging from the same points that are pushed into three different planes by aluminum tubing. These form the base for the last circle—the rainproof roof of the stage,’ he continues. The rhythmic repetition of the fabric’s curves and seams creates a sense of spatial order. ‘It brings order and makes your eye understand what’s happening,’ Offerhaus observes.
CURTAIN 01 is an architectural installation by ZELT Studio
lighting design references sci-fi films and iconic music shows
The project emerges from Offerhaus’ intention to scale up his textile work. ‘In the last 3 years, having worked on textile designs at small scale — attached to the body — I really felt the need to scale up,’ he explains. ‘I wanted my work to be very big — to offer a space for more than just one person.’ That opportunity came through a collaboration with Dekmantel’s Creative Director, Albert van Abbe, who invited him to reimagine the scenography of the Selectors Stage. While van Abbe envisioned a prefab concrete DJ booth as a stable core for vinyl sets, Offerhaus came up with a lightweight, expressive textile canopy that hovers above. ‘The heavy concrete — a perfect anchor point — naturally invited in a lightweight (visually and literally) textile tensile piece,’ he adds.
Alongside CURTAIN 01, Szakács’ lighting design brings a cinematic tone to the space, referencing 1970s sci-fi film sets and iconic rock shows such as Pink Floyd’s Pompeii performance through warm whites, amber, and soft blues that mix with the white fabric above.
suspended between the trees and held aloft by a complex system of ropes, aluminum, and steel
Johannes Offerhaus calls his creations ‘tent designs’
Every component of the structure is crafted in Offerhaus’ Amsterdam Noord studio using industrial sail-making machines. ‘We machine sew everything… it gives us a really good understanding of the materials and its limitations,’ he highlights. ‘The design is very clear until you get all the fabric cut and have to assemble it. You quite easily get lost in between the heaps of fabric behind the sewing machine.’ He and his team follow a highly structured process to ensure precision, knowing they only have days before the festival opens to confirm whether the assembly works.
Offerhaus prefers to let the work speak for itself once it’s in place. ‘I don’t have to inform the spectator how to interpret the work and I don’t have to present it to them. I can dissolve in the crowd,’ Johannes Offerhaus points out. ‘Obviously the moment the festival starts, my work merges together with that of others – light designers, sound engineers, DJs, performers – and so I become the spectator as well.’
This project follows earlier installations such as GATEWAY at Down The Rabbit Hole festival and KOLOM 01, all part of Offerhaus’ evolving interest in spatial textiles – what he calls his ‘tent designs.’ ‘By calling my installations ”tents” I am forcing myself to slowly find a purpose and function for them,’ he comments. ‘Ultimately, it is a gateway for the terrain.’
white textile surfaces ripple in the breeze
CURTAIN 01 is constructed entirely by hand
its function is to offer rain protection for DJs performing over the three-day event
ZELT Studio’s canopy is held in place through this system of ropes and aluminum rods
suspended from steel anchors
the fabric is shaped into a series of repeating, curved forms
the project emerges from Offerhaus’ intention to scale up his textile work
the form takes cues from the setting’s natural rhythms
project info:
name: Tensile Canopy for Dekmantel 2025
architect: ZELT Studio
location: Amsterdamse Bos, Amsterdam, Netherlands
lead architect: Johannes Offerhaus | @johannesofferhaus
commissioned by: Dekmantel Festival | @dkmntl
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