Explorations in Craft: Soft Forms and Formed Patterns
This course is focused on physical model making of soft forms. It offers a series of encounters with material specificity, including textile, metal, and plastic materials, and the techniques used in transforming 2D patterns to 3D forms.
"Some People Knit", Pia Männikkö , 2010, Masking tape, wood, concrete and metal, 210 cm x 160 cm x 140 cm
Softness is an evocative quality in architecture, but how do we “find” and then fabricate those elusive forms? How do we manipulate materials with control when the forms we seek, or their own structural makeup may lack it? When do we follow the material and when do we control it?
This course is focused on physical model making of soft forms. It offers a series of encounters with material specificity, including textile, metal, and plastic materials, and the techniques used in transforming 2D patterns to 3D forms. Demonstrations, and workshops will inform material qualities, their formal affordances, and structural stability. Design and application of cutting and sewing patterns, bending jigs and casting molds will introduce the planning required to facilitate thoughtful crafting.
The methods we work with are intended to open possibilities and refine skills for future making, ranging from quick form finding strategies to techniques for execution with precision.
Note: A materials fee will cover workshop costs.