Textile architecture informed by wind
Licentiate thesis, 2020

Textiles in architecture is a field of great potential, which are worth to explore further. This thesis aims to show that the flexibility of the textile material could be better included in the architectural design, allowing it to adapt to forces, such as the wind, and viewing motion as a positive design feature. The main methods for this were a literature study and design investigations, using physical as well as digital prototypes, with extra focus on the material flexibility and knitted textiles. The field textile architecture informed by wind is defined through three main components: the textile material, the lightweight structure, and the wind. Textiles are, here, seen as a material with structural and aesthetical flexibility and diversity that can adapt to as well as carry applied loads. Lightweight structures are concepts for material efficiency and structural elegance. And, wind informed architecture is the concept of including the phenomena of wind in the architectural design, as a free source of energy or force that could be used, absorbed, or directed to create beauty and to form a more comfortable environment. The core of the thesis lies in the overlap of these three components. Results from this thesis indicate, firstly, that the field of textile architecture informed by wind is relatively uncharted territory. Knowledge and inspiration can, however, be found outside the field of architecture, such as performing arts, art installations, sailing, and fashion. Secondly, opportunities for supporting the, often complicated, design process of textile architecture are demonstrated through the use of a combination of digital models and physical prototypes, in the presented examples.

Textiles

Research by design

Textile architecture

Kinetic architecture

Lightweight structures

Wind

Geometric expression

Knitted textiles

Online via zoom
Opponent: Dr. Mariana Popescu, Institute of Technology in Architecture at ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Author

Erica Hörteborn

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Architectural theory and methods

Hörteborn, E., Zboinska, M. A. Exploring expressive and functional capacities of knitted textiles exposed to wind influence

Architecture from textiles in motion

IASS Symposium 2019 - 60th Anniversary Symposium of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures; Structural Membranes 2019 - 9th International Conference on Textile Composites and Inflatable Structures, FORM and FORCE,; (2019)p. 2371-2378

Paper in proceeding

Conceptual Design and Analysis of Membrane Structures

Proceedings of 29th Nordic Seminar on Computational Mechanics – NSCM29,; (2016)

Other conference contribution

Subject Categories

Architectural Engineering

Design

Other Humanities not elsewhere specified

Publisher

Chalmers

Online via zoom

Online

Opponent: Dr. Mariana Popescu, Institute of Technology in Architecture at ETH Zurich, Switzerland

More information

Latest update

11/2/2020