In Sweden, 2% of the costs for a public building are set aside for its artistic decoration and it has become a point of honour with architects to incorporate one or more large works by various craftsmen, including weavers. Unfortunately, though the architects here are very willing to commission works in this way, they generally have far less money allotted for the purpose. Recently 1 came up against this when I was asked to weave a hanging for the Director's Office in the new Shell Tower building on the south bank of the Thames. The architect wanted a fairly large tapestry (about 13 ft by 7 ft, see above) but at about one quarter the cost of conventional tapestry.
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