STRIP WEAVING
Could designing with collective intelligence help break down hierarchical knowledge structures?
Ford Foundation
Graduation Thesis Project
Strips can be curved and bent in complex 3 dimensional ways. The bending and twisting of the strip material gives it different material properties and even allow pieces of strips to form structures that can stand up or retain shape even after being squished. All these experiments were computed using a grasshopper script.
Collective Intelligence
A workshop was conducted where we systematically explored various forms and possibilities using strip weaving. I wanted to see if we could combine various forms that were explored individually and combine them together to form a larger structure.
The idea was to provide a set of rules and operations within which individuals would explore. These forms would then be allowed to come together because of the common pattern language. The final larger structure was an outcome of various "bees" coming together to build something larger.
Computing the Strips
The structures were computed using a geodesic algorithm using Grasshopper. The program allows us to visualize the final form along with the right dimensions. It also provides the dimensions for each strip and intersection points that allows for the planning and construction of various structures.
It is poetic to think that the first computer was a weaver. Computation has always been like weaving.
Pattern Language
These were the set of standard operations that were provided to the workshop participants. No body had experience working with strips or weaving strips. Operations outside of these instructions were not allowed, the participants had to find permutation, combination, and creative ideas by using these operations only.
Form Processing
From the collective pool of all the forms that we had discovered, we chose two and decided to combine them in a hexagonal grid to form our mesh for the installation.
Some of these forms were also not that easy or intuitive to make. The participant who had discovered it taught how to make it quickly to everyone. We needed to make a lot of them so work was distributed based on who liked doing what and who was good at doing certain things.
Kinetics and Electronics
We wanted the installation to move and breath as if it is alive. To achieve this, I used six Nema 17 stepper motors and created 3D printed mounts and fixtures. The wiring was a mess and there were quite a few loose connections but after tinkering for a while I made it work.
The whole installation was more heavy than I had anticipated. This added with the fact that it had a tendency to stretch and shrink required more torque from the motors. This made the installation move more slowly than I had planned but it did provide movement to those that were patient to see it.
