4. 6
Braided structures: applying textile principles at an architectural scale Marielle Savoyat
Design
IBOIS—Laboratory for Timber Constructions/ EPFL, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland Prof. Yves Weinand and Dr. Markus Hudert (researcher)
Research and completion
2007–2013
Fig. 1
The research undertaken between 2007 and 2013 by Markus Hudert within IBOIS, the Laboratory for Timber Constructions at the Swiss Federal Institute of Techno logy, analyzes the use of textile techniques at an archi tectural scale. It soon became apparent that principles of knitting, braiding, and weaving offer great potential for varying structural possibilities when applied to the scale of architecture. The common denominator between all of these textile techniques is one basic element: that of a thread interlaced with another thread. This starting principle can be transferred onto two interlaced planks of wood. To put this concept into practice, a first prototype called a textile module was created, which demonstrated how the application of a textile technique, when combined with the properties of wooden material, could lead to a particularly efficient freestanding structure.
Axonometry of a braided arch
184 Form-finding and mechanical investigations of active bended systems