Knit as bespoke material practice for architecture

Thomsen, Mette Ramsgaard; Tamke, Martin; Karmon, Ayelet; Underwood, James R.; Gengnagel, Christoph; Stranghöner, Natalie; Uhlemann, J.

doi:10.52842/conf.acadia.2016.280

Cited by 20 publications

(20 citation statements)

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“…These two examples tested the ability of textile hybrids to resist extreme weather conditions. Hybrid Tower especially brought together all the knowledge about hybrid structures by implementing custom-made pockets embedded in the knitted fabric, slender elastic Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) rods and computational analysis to produce a self-standing structure reaching a height of 9 meters (Thomsen et al, 2016).…”

Section: The Delicate Context and The Design Requirementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A removable textile hybrid structural screen for the windows of Castello Sforzesco, Milan: when experimental metrics inform the bespoke ‘design-to-construction’ process in historical contexts

Zanelli

Kolo

Monticelli

et al. 2020

Architectural Engineering and Design Management

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This paper presents the completion of the experimental design-to-installation process of two textile hybrid window screens, aimed at mitigating the comfort conditions and preserving the frescoes of Sala delle Asse at Castello Sforzesco, one of the most important artefacts of cultural heritage in Milan.Given the historical relevance of the context, the main challenges that the project tackles are: 1) implementing bespoke, low impact, lightweight structural screens as reversible additions to historical buildings; 2) enhancing their performance in terms of visual, lighting and hygrothermal comfort; 3) then creating and validating an interdisciplinary methodology of managing the whole design-to-costruction process, with the aim to assess its replicability in other cultural heritage sites.The design task, led by Textile Architecture Network, at hand is to produce selfstanding vertical screens for the large-scale windows in the room, in order to control the sunlight amount on the frescos, as well as to block air drafts that cause humidity inside the room. The main challenge of the project proved to be the fragility of the direct context, since the screens must be sealed on the borders, but no perforations are allowed on the vaulted edges of the windows. Thus, a textile hybrid structure is proposed as a solution, made of : 1) bending-active and form-active elements, due to its self-standing principle that would not require drilling on the vault; 2) unconventional knitted textile materials, that need to be characterized both in terms of stretching properties and optical performances. Eventually the paper presents the preliminary multidisciplinary research campaign consisting of: 1) in situ anemometric tests by Experimental Mobile Laboratory; 1) material tests on optical transmittance carried out by SeedLab; 3) mechanical tensile tests and the updating of the material choices by Textile Architecture Network, all part of the Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering

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Section: The Delicate Context and The Design Requirementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A removable textile hybrid structural screen for the windows of Castello Sforzesco, Milan: when experimental metrics inform the bespoke ‘design-to-construction’ process in historical contexts

Zanelli

Kolo

Monticelli

et al. 2020

Architectural Engineering and Design Management

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“…There have been however some attempts in the last decade to integrate knitted textiles in larger hybrid structures, mostly combined with bending active elements. These trials have exploited the high customization potential of the fabrics, both density-wise to structurally optimize them [1][2][3][4][5] and appearance-wise [6,7], as well as their ability to stretch to a high extent [8]. The high degree of flexibility of these form-active textiles is complementary to the internal bending-active forces inside fiberreinforced elastic bars [1][2][3][6][7][8] or pneumatic elements [4,5], a mechanical behavior that cannot be replicated by stiffer coated or woven textiles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These trials have exploited the high customization potential of the fabrics, both density-wise to structurally optimize them [1][2][3][4][5] and appearance-wise [6,7], as well as their ability to stretch to a high extent [8]. The high degree of flexibility of these form-active textiles is complementary to the internal bending-active forces inside fiberreinforced elastic bars [1][2][3][6][7][8] or pneumatic elements [4,5], a mechanical behavior that cannot be replicated by stiffer coated or woven textiles. Such recent developments call for an appropriate tensile testing method that would be useful to assess not only permissible loads, but also other more relevant properties to the actual application of knitted fabrics, for example maximum elongation and elastic deformation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The current applications of knitted textiles are in the context of research on computational architecture and thus calculate their mechanical behavior by an iterative or computer-aided analysis only [1][2][3][4][5][6]8]. The first case in which biaxial tests were carried out was Hybrid Tower (an architectural result of conducted research) [7], which had to be placed in a real context with challenging environmental conditions, such as extreme wind and rain. Thus, stress testing is mandatory whenever there are safety standards to achieve and prerequisites relative to the context to fulfill.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Design-driven Uniaxial and Biaxial Tensile Testing of Knitted Fabrics Applied to Construction

Monticelli

Zanelli

2022

IABSE Symposium, Prague 2022: Challenges for Existing and Oncoming Structures

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<p>Knitted fabrics are rarely subjected to tensile stress tests in the field of architectural construction materials, mostly due to their common use as drapery. However, recent non-standard applications of tensioned knitted textiles to hybrid lightweight constructions call for the assessment of their mechanical behavior. In the light of the absence of specific testing methodologies regarding knitted fabrics in the field of construction, this study aims at investigating customized testing techniques that target design requisites, as well as extending previous groundwork on plain weft- knitted textiles to tuck-loop knit structures. Fabrics with a piquet Lacoste loop structure are tested uniaxially and biaxially in order to estimate the feasibility of a relatively large-scale project. The challenging task consists of stretching the limited production width in weft direction to the extended dimensions of the tensile architectural project. Hence the study focuses on elongation limits and especially on the maximum elongation that allows elastic deformation. Extracted empirical data are expressed in the form of stress/strain curves that enable an appropriate understanding of the textiles’ mechanical behavior. This inquiry points out the extent to which knit pattern favors directional elongation in warp as opposed to weft or vice-versa. In addition, it addresses the mechanical performance of knitted textiles by means of a strategic customization of tensile tests that can make them better at informing the design process and feasibility assessment.</p>

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“…For example, Sean Ahlquist researches the potential of machine knitting to operate as an information mediating interface for responsive environments for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Ahlquist 2015;. Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen and Martin Tamke of CITA, as well as Jane Scott of Leeds, develop simulations and prototypes to imbue material systems with variation, gradation, and the inherent properties of natural fibers for performance and sensing-based architectures (Thomsen et al 2016; 1 Scott 2013). Composite systems are also possible through the integration of tensile and reinforcement materials and application of prestress and resin impregnation (Sharmin and Ahlquist 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%