Dreamweaver
Knitting is a material process of common knowledge, accessible all over the world, that can be performed extremely fast with simple hand-operated devices.
Dreamweaver is created from hacking existing, circular knitting machines with a numerically-controlled Plug-in Robot. It generates emergent light-weight constructions where micro components (knitted structures), their method of assembly (tubular profiles knitted onto others) and macro-structural systems can diversify according to specific rules of aggregation. Learning from typologies of branching propagation and hierarchical clustering, Dreamweaver is developed as a computational and material model that operates at multiple scales in a fractal manner.
The aim of the project is to control the knitting machine so it can be used for architectural applications as a fast on-site construction system. It could be deployed in areas with waste management issues, where the project will use local, reclaimed materials in combination with smart, advanced materials.
Digital Tectonics Studio
Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia
Faculty: Marta Malé-Alemany, Luis Fragrada, Victor Vina
Partner: Melat Assefa, Joao Albuquerque
Spring 2010
