Weaving as an Analogy for Architectural Design
Praxis
“Surface quality of material, that is matière,
being mainly a quality of appearance, is an aesthetic quality and therefore a
medium of the artist; while quality of inner structure is, above all, a matter
of function and therefore the concern of the scientist and engineer.
Sometimes material surface together with material structure are the main
components of a work; in textile works for instance, specifically in weavings
or, on another scale, in works of architecture” Anni Albers
Weaving has often been used as an analogy to describe various systems. It describes our culture, the natural world, and in sociology, it is an apt analogy for the urban fabric with its interweaving of people, neighborhoods, work places and institutions. It also describes the generalist role of architects as weavers of the multi-disciplinary knowledge required for the design and production of a building.
This paper describes an instructional technique I use in my design studio (in collaboration with the textile school) to investigate similarities between weaving and form. Architects and weavers both recognize the need to look beyond surface appearances to understand the inner structure of a design. Although the most visible use of woven material in architecture today is tensile membrane structures, the intent of the studio is to apply the concept of weaving to physical structures and well beyond. Therefore, the studio focuses on the analogy of weaving as an instructional device in the design process to demonstrate how it can apply to various situations. For example, in architecture the analogy can extend to the interlacing of ideas, place, space and construction, as well as how they themselves are woven together in the process of design. Studying weaving from the analogical/conceptual viewpoint constitutes the basic premise of this paper.