Radical Softness The Responsive Art of Janet Echelman

Radical Softness is a visual compendium of Echelman's oeuvre, including detailed project documentation, archival source materials, and a fascinating illustrated chronology.

Over the past twenty-five years, Janet Echelman has created monumentally scaled public sculptures using unlikely materials, from atomized water particles to engineered fiber fifteen times stronger than steel. She weaves ancient craft and computational modeling software into an utterly unique art form.

Radical Softness is a comprehensive sourcebook that unpacks Echelman’s vital practice and her ongoing commitment to “Taking Imagination Seriously,” the title of her TED Talk which has been translated into thirty-five languages and has more than two million views. It features mesmerizing color photographs, a foreword by fellow creative Swizz Beatz, and contributions from a diverse range of internationally recognized scholars, engineers, designers, architects, and curators contextualizing the interdisciplinary impact of Echelman’s work within the fields of global art history, architecture, computation, and landscape architecture.

Published by Chronicle Books and Princeton Architectural Press, Radical Softness is available on September 16, 2025.

Currently available for pre-order at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.