Worksop at Advaces in Architectural Geometry(AAG) Coference 2018 with digital and physical output

This workshop will explore the design processes and tools related to textile architecture formed by wind. On one hand, we will focus on how the internal structure of textiles can affect their behaviour and geometric expression when in movement. On the other, we will experiment with diverse tools useful for designing such textile architecture in movement, ranging from digital simulations of aesthetic expressions and behaviours, through structural property assessment, up to physical models set in motion by moving air.

Textiles as design materials in architecture are considered formless. In tensile architecture, textiles are designed to follow a predesigned shape, with coated woven fabrics stretched until the resulting shape is virtually stiff; this to avoid deformation by wind. But what happens if we allow movement in the textile? What if wind becomes a design variable to decide upon the expression of textile architectural form? As a building material textile is starting to gain more interest in architecture. The possibility of creating seemingly endless variations of textiles with different behaviour and functionalities is very appealing from a design perspective. It is an easily transported and lightweight material and can be made from a range of different yarns, including reused textile fibres and wood, which gives it a great potential to be a sustainable choice for architecture.

The workshop will use a combination of computational tools using C++ code, Processing code and Grasshopper to investigate fabric geometry and behaviour at scales from the knitting and weaving of individual yarns to clothes and large-scale fabric structures. At the small scale we are focusing on topology and graph theory and at the large scale the interaction of fabric and wind is of prime interest. The emphasis is on geometry, physics and artistic expression of textile in motion. Participants will be given a simple source code which can be modified, even by those with little experience of programming. Throughout the workshop participants will get a basic introduction in different textile morphologies, and the possibility to explore different textile material behaviours, from the structure and geometries of the treads in the woven and knitted textile to the shapes and application in a building scale. The relationship between these scales will be explored both physically and digitally. How does the geometry of the threads affect the overall shape? Participants will work with both computer models as well as physical models, and gain an understanding for the geometry of the textile material, learn about different ways and means of simulating textile behaviour in movement and get a comparison of the challenges brought in by each type of simulation. A large-scale model will be produced during the workshop and exhibited during the conference.