Brendon Carlin and fellow students at the Architectural Association Design Research Laboratory have experimented with liquid plaster set in stitched lycra moulds.

Called Grompies, the project involved translating a computer-generated pattern into stitched lines across the fabric using a sewing machine and by hand.

These textured fabric canvasses are then pulled taut and fixed to wooden frames before being filled with plaster.

The project was a collaborative workshop by Brendon Carlin, Kyle Chou, Lluis Enrique Monzo, Carlos Piles and Faysal Tabbarah, investigating "matter as computation".

Here's some more information from Carlin:

Grompies by Brendon Carlin, Kyle Chou, lluis Enrique Monzo, Carlos Piles, Faysal Tabbarah

Architectural Association Design Research Laboratory - 16 month masters of architecture degree program.
Workshop: matter as computation.

With due recognition to the work of Antonio Gaudi, Frei Otto and Felix Candela, among others.

A virtual pattern is generated on the computer through behavioral rule sets which play out with no finite time limits.

A moment is observed in the looping of those behaviors in virtual space, and captured.

The resulting pattern is translated by hand and sewing machine into a stitched pattern on lycra by printing and tracing its form.

The stitched sheets of lycra are fixed to wooden frames constructed of scrap material.

A plaster, water mix is poured into the tightly stitched lycra pattern and left to set.

Special thanks to Alicia Tam the London Royal College of Arts for material supply and to the students of the RCA‘s Innovation Design Engineering Unit.

Tutors: Theodore Spyropoulos and Rob-Stuart Smith

Team:
Brendon Carlin - USA
Kyle Chou - Taiwan/Usalluis Enrique Monzo - Spain
Carlos Piles - Spain
Faysal Tabbarah - Syria

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See also:

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