Textiles and architecture have had a long interrelated history. Early buildings often consisted of textiles for enclosure and room division. Gottfried Semper wrote several texts about textile patterns and design and their relationships to architecture. Ornamental patterns on textiles often have many similarities to those ornamental patterns in architecture and interior design. Weaving is the earliest form of creating of textiles, and many patterns found in textiles and architecture are referential to the structure of warp and weft of woven patterns. Knitting is a considerably a more recent development in textile history. And uses rows of loops to construct a fabric. The looping structure makes the material more elastic properties.

This research explores contemporary ideas relating textile craft to possible tensile architecture. Tensile architecture often uses extremely taught white or single colored fabric. These fabrics are usually woven and are highly engineered with waterproof coatings, making them very strong and have little to no elasticity. This typical tensile architecture is seen in such examples as the Denver Airport or the German pavilion by Frei Otto. The materials used here leave little room for ornamentation or other design aside from the overall geometric form.

 

In contrast this project explores a small knit wall structure which has a playfulness in pattern, texture, and color. The fabrics are tensile yet the materials elasticity allows it to remain soft to the touch and the use of a variety of yarns allows for diverse texture and quality.  Different yarn materials such as natural materials like wool, cotton, and linen have different elastic properties. As well as synthetic materials such as nylon monofilament, polyester, and acrylic. A times the thickness and twist of the yarn can also effect the elasticity of the resulting knit materials. Playing with these different properties creates a variety of texture and tension on the materials surface.

 

Further more different stitch types and structures provide deeper patterning and effects in the design. Which allow for more porosity and light to penetrate through the material.  The patterns are generated using parametric design. Although the panels of the piece knitted by hand on a domestic manual knitting machine, using many unique hand manipulation techniques during the process. This integrates digital design and craft making for the finishing of the design production.

 

Resultantly the designed wall is extremely tactile and playful. The project explores how the finishing of the surface texture of tensile materials as something different from the typical taught fabric seen in tensile architecture today. Made by hand, but designed parametrically, it is ultimately meant to be engaged with the hand through touch. Proposing an approach to increased tactical engagement between humans and the built environment. Furthermore the surface finish is not only tactile, as Juhani Pallasmaa discusses in his book The Eyes of the Skin, the relationship between seeing and touching, the design is visually stimulating as well through these unique textures.

 

Creating new possible human experiences for surface finishes in tensile materials for architecture.  And bringing together ideas of textiles, craft, making, surface patterning and tensile materials in a novel approach to create ornament that can be both visually and tacitly stimulating.