Textile Informed Structures - How to Braid a Roof, Translating the logic of textile structure into the scale of architecture

Paper in proceeding, 2019

There is a great variety of textiles materials, both in terms of the behaviour of the fibres they comprise and the assembly methods used to construct them. Hence, the definition of textile is expanded nowadays from including only conventional fabrics to encompassing surfaces with structures that follows the logic of textiles.[1] One can then refer to textile as a repetition of bindings, or joints, forming a non-hierarchical surface. Analogies between classical textile assembly methods of interlacing threads (triaxial weave and bobbin lace) and architectural structural systems are explored in this research. Similar to the work of Snelson the internal structural logic is identified by the joints used, and these typologies are mapped onto structures.[2] The resulting modules aim to be used for the assembly of structures in the scale of architecture. Like the assembly logic of the textiles, these structures have the potential to grow in all directions depending on spatial requirements while still retaining some kinetic properties. Subsequently, the result proposes two concepts: firstly a tensegrity weave structural system- combining triaxial woven textiles and tensegrity; secondly a reciprocal lace system where a basic pattern of bobbin lace is mapped onto reciprocal structures. The final concepts propose intriguing load bearing systems that illustrate the possibility to design and construct temporary structures able to seamlessly span irregular spaces.