Katerina Efraimoglou I Thesis Programme

KNITTING ICELAND

A KNITTING FACTORY, A RESEARCH CENTER & ACCOMODATION SPACES A convergence of Icelandic Craft, Sheep wool Industry & Technology

A compilation of experiments and research to inform and suggest direction for the completion of a Masters Thesis at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Spring 2015.

AIKATERINI EFRAIMOGLOU

Tutor: Marianne Hansen, Department of Architecture and Extreme Environments

CONTENTS

PREFACE

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OUTLINING THE ARCHITECTURAL THEMATICS

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07 08 13 17

ABSTRACT

INHABITED WALLS BEHAVING ARCHITECTURE THE RITUAL OF PROCESS

PROGRAMME PROBLEMATICS

PROGRAMMATIC INTENTIONS

FUNCTIONAL PROGRAMME

ROOMS & SPACES

21 23 25 30

METHODOLOGY

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CONTEXT

SUBMISSION APPENDIX

BIBLIOGRAPHY

31 40 41 59

PREFACE In order to meet the economic, social, environmental, resource and climate challenges, there is a need for combining these elements together, creating cities and communities in better balance, which resist change, shock and function during system changes and unforeseen crises.

Believing that engaging with extreme environments - focusing on drastic and technical solutions - challenges the resilience and sustainabily in architecture, this course ‘travels’ to an out of balance environment, which will further be used as test bed for an architectural design, submitted to recurring extremes.

The project investigates the conditions for design within Iceland’s extreme environment, and explores architecture through hyper-tuned site specificity.

At the same time, input from researchers in various fiels becomes the ‘thread’ for this project to evolve, with the faith that architectural possibilities nowadays can be enriched by an interdisciplinary approach.

In close collaboration with science and technology, this project aims to critically “enhance” architectural performance and reveal new methods and potentials around architecture; to serve as a platform for discussion on our role in an ever changing landscape. It seeks to push the boundaries of what architecture is, by exploring what architecture can be, and explore new formal and spatial languages that enrich our build environments and our daily lives.

This thesis programme is to be considered a frame for the completion of this thesis.

It presents and defines the problematics to be investigated, through speficic preliminary studies that later informed the ‘in situ’ research investigations. Those studies inform and suggest future methodology, highlighting an experimental, exploratory attitude of research by design and vice vera, whereas site analysis highlights the importance of the specific programme, relative to the specific conditions.

Lastly, it is concluded with an appendix that displays past studies and precedent, which demontrate a physical manifestation of initial explorations and questionings.

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Human and natural systems must become more resilient to expected changes. In fact, the smartest communities are using the threat of climate change to invest in long-term environmental, economic, and social sustainability while protecting their infrastructural assets and housing stock. According to Peter Newman, a leading thinker on sustainability and cities, ‘a resilient city is sustainable in its economy, environment, and community, but it has a deeper quality which enables it to quickly adapt to challenges and rebuild itself for any challenge it faces’.

Resilient cities reduce their vulnerability to extreme events by responding creatively in advance of economic, social and environmental challenges. At the urban scale, these cities’ climate adaptation plans should focus on the generation of a ‘sense of place’.

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- 01 -

ABSTRACT The intention of this thesis is to explore and challenge the way wool can be utilized as an innovative material in architecture, towards a creative and sustainable approach.

Wool as a versatile fibre is most commonly known to be used in clothing, furniture and crafts. What about using wool in our everyday living spaces? Could we live, work and play in buildings using wool as a prominent material of the structure and design, much less in the harsh climatic conditions of Iceland?

At the same time, in architecture, walls, stairs, windows, columns, furniture, seem to be clearly distincted the one to the other, each having seperate functions, serving different needs, having their own space. How can we start questioning the notion of the these elements, their independent ‘existence’, by giving them texture, depth, meaning, life? How can we challenge this defined perception we have of the architectural elements, exploring their spatial transitions, the spaces ‘emitted’ by bringing together an interior to an exterior space, a furniture to a wall, the soft world of wool to architecture?

Looking back at traditional ways people have been using Icelandic sheep, literally being essential for their survival in this inhospitable island, this project deals with this resource through a sustainable and experimental lens. It challenges the idea of merging two different fields together; the science of Architecture on the one hand and the knitting craft on the other, exploring how these two fields could meet together and further inform the one the other.

An Old Icelandic poem gives insight into the attitudes toward work, and towards knitting in particular, in centuries past: [EN]: Since you are almost four years old it’s about time you were put to work That is to learn the three arts to read, knit and spin

[IC]: Fyrst þú ert kominn á fjórða ár fara áttu að vinna Það er að læra listir þrjár lesa, prjóna og spinna

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ABSTRACT Exploring ‘material boundaries’ is the aim and the same time the methodological strategy of this project, in order to see if, and in which directions this ancient material can prove applicable to the extreme climate conditions of Iceland, within an architectural contect. Exploring material properties, such as insulation and water repelance, as well its performance at the various climatic conditions of Iceland, was the initial specific field of investigation which is further going to be explored in this project, formed as such: ‘How can insulation, which is normally hidden in the body of the building skin, be revealed and become bart of the design of the building as well, suggesting new spatialities and types of habitation?

Vík Prjónsdóttir, an Icelandic firm owned by the designers Brynhildur Pálsdóttir, Guðfinna Mjöll Magnúsdóttir and Þuríður Sigurþórsdóttir took the challenge, in 2005, to bring new ideas to the knitting wool industry of Iceland. ‘We decided not to work with clothing, but with blankets; an object that people can use and ‘‘live’’ in’, Brynhildur characteristically mentioned during our meeting in her small studio, in Reykjavik.

‘A blanket is an in-between object that belongs to every culture; it is neither furniture, nor fashion, but rather a prime object, that keeps us warm, enables us to create our own space and specify our area, our safe zone.’

In that sense, considering that the building envelope is comparable to clothing for people, the aim of this project is not to manifest itself through the use of wool, as a purely design, architectural or insulation material component, seperated the one from the other. It is the aim of the project, though, to seek for their interindependencies, that will challenge a more resilient, behavioural, and atmospheric architecture, towards an holistic design approach.

These strategies will manifest themselves within the programmatics of a hybrid building(s), in the town of Iceland, Vik. A knitting factory, a research centre for wool, and highly specific accomodation spaces will operate, and challenge these ideas together, under those different programmatic themes of fabrication, research and habitation.

Image on the right: The ‘Snowblanket’ by Vik Prjonsdottir

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ARCHITECTURAL THEMATICS At this point, I would like to outline the architectural thematics that folow, before I actually reach the functional description of this programme thesis.

A. INHABITED WALLS

B. BEHAVING ARCHITECTURE C. THE RITUAL OF PROCESS

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INHABITED WALLS Louis Kahn was known for his interest in Scottish Castles, by which he elaborated the distinction between ‘served’ and ‘servant spaces’, with great central living halls and auxiliary spaces nestled into thick outside walls.

The ‘‘deep set shutters’’ are a series of recessed window pockets, slight multifunctional intrusions into the space that give depth to the façade while creating an interior shelf.

The most practical aspect of the window recessions is a sense of privacy and humanity they provide, creating variations along the facades that cast shadows and give a texture to the form. Not only do they break the planarity of the façade and bring the exterior inside, but they allow for an open window during a heavy rainstorm, as their form naturally protects against water infiltration.

Image above: The very thick walls of the Castle Hedingham in Essex

The abstract and labyrinthine character of these Walls, makes it impossible to recognise from the exterior the incredibly intense activity, negotiations and potentials of occupying the space, that is going on beyond..

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INHABITED WALLS As being the aim to explore how woolen structures can be employed as an interior (perhaps exterior) building skin, the project explores the possibilities of structuring ‘warm’ spaces for inhabitation examining how this soft and warm can be formed, supported and specified, directly linked to the users needs and behaviours.

The Mongolian yurts is a typical paradigm of local anonymous architecture, which talks about resielience and high-specific architecture, using wool as its main insulation material. These ancient structures, been the main habitation of central Asian nomads for thousands of years, continue to be the main form of dwelling in Mongolian harsh steppe, and felt literally transforms these constructions into a home, giving it a feeling of strength, warmth and security.

Within the knitting wool industry, on the other hand, a particular material’s performance is directly linked to its crafting. The spinning of yarns can make it elastic and springy or stiff and unyielding, and knitted fabribs perform through tension.

How can architecture embrace this material understanding? Are there ways in which the materially performing, the tensile and the friction based can become part of architectural structural thinking?

Believing that wool can allow for an architecture, thought beyond the rectilinear logics of set-square, instead defined by its unique flexible ‘geometries’, putting its own limitations and freedoms, I want to challenge the idea of the wall, as a space, balancing between furniture & architecture. As a space who can express and at the same time be expressed by its context, meaning physical phenomena, but also the people. continually ‘open’ to a state of change and movement. ‘Inhabiting’ wool spaces, suggest sensual, warm spaces. As the user engages with it and ‘enters’ in the wool’s space, he can be able to change their pulse, through slight adjustment iterations.

Image on the right: A Collage, developed in time by adding layers of ideas and drawings.

It is a transforamtion of a typical tipi into a deployable structure, aiming to response to different users, sizes and different ways of habitation. A typical yurt’s plan talks about the different zones that can be found and reconfigured in this limited space, while there is space of more ‘yurts’ to be added, creating in turn their own private and more public zones. These zones respond to the users’ needs and climatic conditions.

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BEHAVING ARCHITECTURE Architecture is traditionally understood as a static envelop, where structure necessitate an inherently dynamics. Withstanding the continual impact of gravity, architecture must also account for wind, rain and the movement of its ground, as well as for the life that takes place within it. To think architecture as static is to imagine it outside its inhabitation.

The lived building is a place of continual change, as its occupier’s moves through its cavities, opening and closing its membranes, switching on and off its amenities.

The use of wool in architecture can be the opening up of the possibility to make a sustainable, changeable architecture. An architeccture that is though as a dynamic place that communicates its state shifts with its occupation.

A further interest coming from the use of wool, is the idea of making a soft space, which lies to its occupation. If a space is close to our human scale and soft, then how does it allow us to think differently about programme and occupation?

A series of scenarios, that will address to diffrent situations, will explore the implementation of wool-made wall membranes. The scenario is to be understood as a programmatic place hold, through which the properties and character of the design can be imagined. These scenarios provide different experiences, but also sensory relationships between the built and the inhabited.

‘Architecture has its own realm. It has a special physical relationship with life. I do not think of it primarily as either a message or a symbol, but as an envelope and background for life, which goes on, in and around it, a sensitive container for the rhythm of footsteps on the floor, for the concentration of work, for the silence of sleep.’

- John Hejduk -

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BEHAVING ARCHITECTURE How can a knitted skin, enable a new thinking of how space is constructed, through a bodily interaction with architecture? The ‘Cocoon’ project, shown in the images on the left and below, rather than conceiving each room as a separate entity, with rigid walls, definite inside and outside, here becomes that which is wrapped as a continuity. Thinking the built environment as a textile envelope allows space to become transitional and topologic, rather than static and typologic.

Shukstelinsky’s ‘Cocoon’ project, by Tanya Shukstelinsky features sheets of material with stairs and handholds stitched into them, allowing occupants to move between different living zones (dining area, sleeping area and bath). A new type of living, that Tanya describes as ‘temporary living spaces for urban nomads’, with people living between two sheets of suspended fabric.

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THE RITUAL OF PROCESS In architecture and spatial design, atmosphere refers to the sensorial qualities that a space emits. Atmosphere is an immediate form of physical perception, and is recognised through sensorial sensibility. And materials do create certain atmospherics, in architecture, being transformed in multiple ways within time and space.

‘Materials can assume a poetic quality in the context of an architectural object, although only if the architect is able to generate a meaningful situation for them, since materials in themselves are not poetic. If we succeed in that, materials in architecture can be made to shine and vibrate.’

- Peter Zumthor In the Bruder Claus Field Chapel project of Peter Zumthor, the most interesting aspects of the church are found in the methods of construction, beginning with a wigwam made of 112 tree trunks. Upon completion of the frame, layers of concrete were poured and rammed atop the existing surface, each around 50cm thick. When the concrete of all 24 layers had set, the wooden frame was set on fire, leaving behind a hollowed blackened cavity and charred walls.

Peter Zumthor says about the Claus Field Chapel: ‘It talks about the rain, the winter, the snow, the weather, the light, the darkness, the fire; you can still smell it!

Through this reference, my scope is not only to make a comment about the link between material itself and architecture, and the way architecture allows for a single material to express multiple conditions. But rather to highlight the ritual of process inscribed in the building, and the hidden forces that lay beyond.

Regarding my programme and my architectural intentions, it is my aim to raise a sensory connection betwwen the knitting factory, and the users, through revealing and celebrating the ‘forces’ - the underlying process - that wool is made through. Shearing, spinning, knitting, washing, sewing, are stages within this process, each having its own importance, time, ‘space’. And in that context, my aim will be to explore, and further express these narratives, within the building’s experience.

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PROGRAMME At this point, I would like to outline the topics following, towards the specification of my actual functional programme

A. PROBLEMATICS

B. PROGRAMMATIC INTENTIONS C. FUNCTIONAL PROGRAMME D. ROOMS & SPACES

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PROBLEMATICS A hybrid building consisted of a knitting factory, a research centre for wool, and highly specific accomodation spaces will operate, testing the ideas prementioned. Under the thematic ‘triptych’ of fabrication, research and habitation, in Vik, the second most touristic town in Iceland, after Reykjavik, this building(s) not only responds to the existing conditions of Iceland, and more specifically of Vik, but also challenges the spatial relationships within this programmatic merge, and their implications to the users, the community, the town of Vik. In situ research, interviews with the city planner of Vik, Mr. Vigfús Þór Hróbjartsson , and the managing director of ‘Vikurprjorn’ - the best known knitting factory in Vik Mr. Orn Sigurdsson, as well as personal observations informed, and further enriched these programmatic ideas. More specifically: A. Farming radically goes down, as there are no young people to continue the businesses, while 50% of the farms in Vik i Mydral are transformed into cottages, in regards to the great boost that Iceland has seen in tourism the last years few years. In the meanwhile, this seems to create a big issue; ‘There is a big need for hosting people who are coming here to work, and want to live for more than a month’, says Mr. Vigfus, the city planner, during our meeting at his office in Vik.

B. At the same time, wool knitting industry has an upgoing development in Iceland since 2012, with ‘Vikurprjorn’ having a growth of 100% the last two years. The use of traditional methods and patterns, out of the unique Icelandic wool, lopi, has made it a popular destination for tourists. And most villagers are strongly linked to the factory, taking under consideration that the 1/8 of Vik’s population is actually working in ‘Vikurprjorn’.

C. Parallel to that, ‘Vík Prjónsdottír’, the innovative design firm, that works exclusively with Icelandic wool, has brought the Icelandic wool industry into a new and exciting phase, since 2005, by experimenting with this material, trying to find new ways in this knitting tradition.

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PROGRAMMATIC INTENTIONS ‘Hand - knitting and machine - knitting are two different stories that should not be confused. Most of the knitted products nowadays in Iceland address to tourists, thus are knitted in a way which imitates the hand - knitted, as if it is high quality product. On the other hand, there is beauty in the machine that we should not hide.’

- Brynhildur Pálsdóttir The industrial space of this ‘open’ knitting factory will serve as the ‘fountain’, the reference point of these programmatics, highlighting the machine and the whole production process of wool; from the spinning mills to the final knitted cloth.

New techniques and higly specialized 3d-knitting machines are introduced in the factory, which will closely collaborate with the research centre for wool; a space of ‘experimentation’, open to researchers from all around the world, aiming to ‘extend’ the potentials of this fantastic material.

Accomodation spaces will be served as the test bed for these explorations, where the users will have the ability to actually experience and habitate these ‘woolen’ spaces.

The users, mentioned before are not only researchers and people coming to Vik in order to work for a short period of time, but also tourists visiting Vik, since it is the second most touristic town of Iceland, after Reykjavik.

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This hybrid building celebrates this wool through the building’s architecture itself and the users’ living experience, but it also highlights the machine and the whole production process. It becomes the ‘thread’ between the past and the future, a place of experimentation within the town of Vik, celebrating the great Icelandic culture of knitting and the power of the nowadays technology.

KNITTING FACTORY

INDUSTRY

Shop Administration

Storage rooms Knitting section Washing section Combing section Sewing space

‘OPEN’ FACTORY

RESEARCH Laboratories Workshop spaces Cafe’ Seminar room ACCOMODATION SPACES

Restaurant Reception Bathrooms Children area

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FUNCTIONAL PROGRAMME The proposed factory, which is the relocation and reconstruction of the already existing knitting factory - ‘Vikurprjorn’ - enriched by the programmatics of a research centre for wool, together with accomodation facilities, emphasizes sustainability.

Remnants and off cuts from the industial process are reused by the research centre and transformed into experimental - all of a kind - products, that will later be inhabited and performed by the people hosted in the ‘woolen’ hotel.

Further stages including shearing - washing - carding - spinning - knitting - washing combing - sewing - wearing - testing - habitating, will all be part of the ‘story’, playing their own important role in this project. Not only as part of the narative, but also as part of the building’s experience. That is to say, the process will be expressed within the factory, through a disciplined, yet choreographed sequence, that the users can take and explore this creative process.

A shop, strategically placed next to the main road, being one of the town’s most touristic destinations, will be part of the knitting factory. Administration and additional services will also be provided.

The research centre will serve as a laboratory to explore the material, as well as a platform for experimentation and discussion, primarily between the communities of industry, design, science & architecture. Its aim will be to take this rich material in a lot of directions, by making products, as well as wall and ceiling treatments to further investigate its insulation and acoustics properties. A particular interest is given in its rich, materially and also historically, aspects, with emphasis to how it has been used over time, in order to inform future techniques. Lastly, the center will be able to test, and at the same time express these experiments through its building’s design. Rooms that perhaps use a more temporal and lightweight architectural ‘language’ , will become the ‘test beds’, where the ‘wool performance’ is going to take place.

Regarding the accomodation spaces, those suggest experimental ways of habitation, aiming to respond - adjust to different users, as well as to the various climatic conditions in Iceland. Various types of ‘inhabiting’ walls and ‘warm’corners will be introduced, allowing people to comfortably co-exist, challenging the way they live, through an architecture of warmth.

It is the intention that the proposed programmes operate as a hybrid, the collaboration between these three agendas, providing a suitable foundation for the investigation of the primary thesis.

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WOOL PROCESS

1. Shearing

2. Scouring

3. Carding

4. Spinning 28

Image above: The ‘Wind knitting factory’ in Netherlands_ Merel Karhof

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ROOMS & SPACES KNITTING FACTORY [1600] m² Production [1200] m² Entrance & shop [400] m² Storage spaces Administration Kitchen Toilets

WOOL RESEARCH CENTER [650] m² Workhops [250] m² Auditorium/ Seminar [200] m² Restaurant/ Cafe’ + Kitchen [100] m² WC Storage [100] m² Cafe’

ACCOMMODATION SPACES [900] m² 8 x Rooms of 25 m² 5 x Rooms of 40 m² 3 x Rooms of 85 m² Reception/ Entrance [40]m² WC [25] m² Restaurant [120] m² Common spaces [200]m² Children space m²

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VIK I MYDRAL The town of Vik is the southernmost village in Iceland, located on the main ring road around the island, around 180 km by road southeast of Reykjavík. It is the second most visited place in Iceland, and also the rainiest town in Iceland.

Vik’s population reached the maximum in 1991 with nearly 600 residents. Many people, till now, move to Reykjavik, which is the single big city in the country where the urbanization is centered. In fact, the larger Reykjavik Metropolitan Area has a total population of 200 000, which is around 62 % of the total Icelandic population.

In recent years, Vik’s population has been just under 300 people who work in a variety of jobs in industry,agriculture, health care, tourism and more. Vik has aslo a blooming wool industry with one of the oldest knitwear producing factories in Iceland.

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SITE ARGUMENTATION The existing factory exists in front of the main road, quite isolated from the urban fabric, and next to the gas station. Part of my proposal is to relocate the factory a bit further, but stil next to the road. This decision aims to relate the building complex more thoroughly to the landscape, by embracing the views, and at the same time to ‘touch’ the urban fabric. The mountains stand dramatically as a backdrop, and at the same time connections to the sea are revealed. Land, water and and the urban context , they all become part of the building, by framing the views, finding connections, and even leting the landscape come through..

A small bridge, crossing the site, is to play each own role in the project, since it is the shortcut people daily use in order to go to the eastern part of the town more directly.

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KEY POINTS SITE OF PROPOSAL

EXISTING FACTORY CHURCH WATER

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METHODOLOGY Believing that a project as such, deals not only with different programmatic themes, but also with different fields and scales of materials, aiming to find their interindependencies, and their spatial relationships, I think that a similar method would be the one that could eventually ‘help’ the problematics unfold, and the project to ‘open’, by revealing its limitations , freedoms, its possibilities.

Jumps & parallel working in scale is the method that I am mostly going to use, challenging this project in various ways, through different media and different situations and living conditions. Therefore, proposals will be explored to varying degrees of detail, depending on the merits of their contribution to the overall architectural discource. Additionaly, being my aim, to ‘build’ this project in a way that it reveals and celebrates the process of the wool making, this ritual, very precise understanding, could be part of my methodology; In the same way that a ritual is gradually unfolded, through very specific stages, tempos and manners, in a similar way I am going to study and further express these hidden forces that lay beyond the building proposal.

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SUBMISSION This project will base initial speculations primarily on a building scale of 1:200 , in order to show the relationship with its immediate context. However this will strongly inform and be informed by interactions at human scales, that will extensively be explored and expressed through drawings and working models of 1:00.

The human scale considerations at a suggested scale of 1:50, will be used to show the relationship with the body, and serve further information, forms, textures and relationships that smaller scales can not do in the same way. It is particularly essential in establishing the speculative territory of thresholds and transitions, as being described through my architectural intentions of this programme.

The final presentation will explore chosen moments at all these scales simultaneously, to demonstrate the character and atmospherics of my building proposal.

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APENDIX

DEVICE DESCRIPTION Weaving Insulation Shelter _Temperature & materiality performance of different woolen ‘façade ‘systems’

The ‘Weaving Insulation Shelter’ is a device that tests the temperature, as well as the material performance of wool on various personal weaving experiments. Different material compositions and weaving pattern explorations aim to challenge the insulating and spatial ‘behaviour’ of wool, under Iceland’s harsh climatic conditions; cold, wind and rain. Taken to Iceland, the device becomes itself the ‘weaving’ loom, laid as test bed for all these tests.

Considering wool as one of Iceland’s greatest renewable resource, essential for clothing and protection against the harsh climate, this device aims to explore the potentials of this ancient material, with focus on the insulation and material performance.

A wooden structure which is considered to be the base, where those weavings are going to be tested on, specified my weaving method, working with three different type of triangular tiles. Basically, a structure, made of 21 Plywood sticks screwed together, [9 mm depth. 1.5 cm width, 1,80 m height], following the logic of the ‘scissors’ became a deployable structure, being able take a great phasma of different positions.

To name some: Position no1: the structure is very closed_ dealing with rain Position no2: the structure is in a middle stage_ windy weather Position no3: the structure is widely open_ good & shiny weather The different positions that the structure can take addresses to different climatic conditions, needs and number of users.

A stretching white cloth is the one that ‘controls’ the shelter’s temperature, and allows for the insulation measurements of the woven facades. Regarding these, III different types of weaving techniques were tested in terms of insulation and materiality performance: A. weavings from 2 types of yarns B. weavings from yarn & felt C. Weaved honeycomb structure, later adding felt.

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WEAVING EXPERIMENTS

LEARNING THE CRAFT DESIGNING PATTERNS & MIXED TECHNIQUES VARIATIONS OF FORM

The idea was to create various of weaving ‘facades’, which would be tested in Iceland in terms of insulation performance.

By xperimenting with different weaving techniques and yarns, I managed to create my own patterns; patterns that created their own ‘space’ in this weavings.

Strategy: 3 main types of weaving & many variations of them A. weaving with 2 types of yarns B. weaving with yarn & felt C. Weaved honeycomb structure, later added with a 3rd yarn or felt

WEAVING DIFFERENT PATTERNS I DIFFERENT TYPE OF YARNS 42

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THE WONDERS OF WOOL Natural and renewable – wool is grown not made; every year sheep grow a new fleece. Wool products also use less energy than man-made fibres during manufacture.

Sunsafe – wool has naturally high UV protection.

Flame retardant – wool fibre has a higher ignition threshold than many other fibres and is flame retardant up to 600º C. It also produces less toxic fumes in a fire.

Biodegradable – when disposed of, natural wool fibre takes only a few years to decompose, and with a high nitrogen content, wool can even act as a fertilizer.

Breathable – wool’s natural structure allows it to absorb and release water vapour into the atmosphere, keeping you warm in winter and cool in summer.

Non allergenic – wool is not known to cause allergy and does not promote the growth of bacteria. With microscopic scales, wool fibres can trap dust in the top layers until vacuumed away.

Durable and elastic – wool fibre can be bent 20,000 times without breaking and still have the power to recover and return to its natural shape. Quality wool garments look good for longer.

Easy care – modern wool can be machine-washed; retaining a small amount of natural oil, wool fibre resists dirt and grease.

Multi-Climatic – wool acclimatizes to its surroundings.

Naturally insulating – wool can insulate the home providing and retaining warmth, and reducing energy costs.

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SHEEP WOOL PERFORMANCE

HYGROSCOPIC FIBRE I CONDENSATION CONTROLER GOOD INSULATOR

SHEEP WOOL FIBER

MICROGRAPH OF WOOL FIBERS

Light micrograph of undyed sheep wool. The hairs are abnormally thick and have an internal honeycomb structure, filled with air pockets, which makes it an excellent insulating material for both sheep and man.

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SHEEP WOOL PERFORMANCE

HYGROSCOPIC FIBRE I CONDENSATION CONTROLER GOOD INSULATOR

SHEEP WOOL FIBER

PERFORMANCE BENEFITS OF SHEEP WOOL

Wool has a higher fire resistance than cellulose and cellular plastic insulation. It does not burn, but instead singes away from fire and extinguishes itself (Wool has a very high inflammation point of 560°C due to its high Nitrogen content of ~16%) Wool is self extinguishing because of its high Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI=25.2), which means to completely burn wool an oxygen content of 25.2% is necessary whereas air only has 21%. Wool fibres are hygroscopic by nature, meaning the can absorb up to 35% of their own weight from the surrounding atmosphere depending on the humidity, helping to preserve the surrounding timbers.

While absorbing this moisture, wool releases energy in the form of heat, thus raising the temperature of its surrounding areas. Naturally releasing this moisture in the warmer seasons, wool creates a cooling effect on the same surroundings. Multiple layered wool fibres effectively reduce airborne sound transfer.

HYGROSCOPIC FIBRE

Sheep’s wool is a hygroscopic fibre and is therefore able to absorb, store and release moisture faster than most other materials. Wool can absorb over 35% of its own weight in moisture without significant changes to thermal performance, whereas the thermal performance of man-made mineral fibre insulation deteriorates when condensation is present. Sheep wool insulation has a unique ability to absorb noxious gases emitted from some building products e.g. formaldehyde; a carcinogenic gas emitted from various man-made building materials. Wool permanently locks up these gases which help to protect residents from a number of health risks. A lack of ‘breathability’ in buildings can cause various problems, including health issues as a result of damp and mould. providing a more comfortable internal environment.

CONDENSATION CONTROLLER

Condensation is one of the biggest challenges facing the building industry today. Excess moisture can not only have a detrimental effect on the structure of a building but it is also a root cause of mould which can have an adverse affect on the welfare of its inhabitants.

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WEAVING EXPERIMENTS LEARNING THE CRAFT

DESIGNING PATTERNS & MIXED TECHNIQUES WEAVING YARN & FELT TOGETHER

STRATEGY B

Weaving structure made with a ‘Viking loom’ made in the school’s studio.

Weaving around a thicker yarn or fluffy felt.

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WEAVING EXPERIMENTS LEARNING THE CRAFT

DESIGNING PATTERNS & MIXED TECHNIQUES WEAVING YARN & FELT TOGETHER

STRATEGY B

Performing the weaving on the structure. Trying different positions.

Perhaps good as a ‘foundation’ system?

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WEAVING EXPERIMENTS

LEARNING THE CRAFT DESIGNING PATTERNS & MIXED TECHNIQUES WEAVING WITH 2 TYPES OF YARNS

STRATEGY A

Testing the different ‘zones’ of the same weaving.

Result because of different stretching and thightness while weaving

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WEAVING EXPERIMENTS

LEARNING THE CRAFT DESIGNING PATTERNS & MIXED TECHNIQUES WEAVING WITH 2 TYPES OF YARNS

STRATEGY A

Performing the weaving on the structure. Trying different positions.

Stretching and leting it loose

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WEAVING EXPERIMENTS FELT & MATERIALITY

WITHIN AN ARCHITECTURAL CONTEXT

HONEYCOMB STRUCTURE

STRATEGY C

Using the typical ‘Vaffel’ pattern in order to achieve a more spatial result.

Transforming the pattern; creating differnt variations that change the shape of the final weaving.

Does the insulation performance remain the same?

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WEAVING EXPERIMENTS FELT & MATERIALITY

WITHIN AN ARCHITECTURAL CONTEXT

HONEYCOMB STRUCTURE

STRATEGY C

The weaved honeycomb layer in later on weaved again with small pieces of felt, that aim to ‘fill the gaps’; empty holes, been created due to the ‘Vaffel’ pattern.

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DEVICE STRUCTURE

DEPLOYABLE ARCHITECTURE DIFFERENT POSITIONS I DIFFERENT CLIMATIC CONDITIONS

SCALE MODEL 1:1

DEVICE EXPLORATIONS

1:1 Scale model: 21 sticks of Plywood cut and sanded in the school’s wood workshop.

[9 mm depth. 1.5 cm width, 1,80 m height].

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PROTOTYPE

DEPLOYABLE ARCHITECTURE DIFFERENT POSITIONS I DIFFERENT CLIMATIC CONDITIONS

SCALE MODEL 1:3

DEVICE EXPLORATIONS.

Testing in studio the thousands positions and posibilities of the structure; from a single stick of wood, till a totally flat ‘weaved’ ring.

Prototype in 1:3 scale model. Made out of 21 sticks of wood, screwed together, following the logic of the Scissor’s structure, thus being able to take this great fasma of differents positions.

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DEVICE TESTS

TESTING THE DEVICE IN VIK WEAVING THE STRUCTURE WITH THE WOOLEN TILES

WORKING WITH LIGHT

EXPLORING THE DEVICE_ IN VIK

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DEVICE TESTS

TESTING THE DEVICE IN VIK WEAVING THE STRUCTURE WITH THE WOOLEN TILES

WORKING WITH LIGHT

EXPLORING THE DEVICE_ IN VIK

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DEVICE TESTS

TESTING THE DEVICE IN JOKULSARLON

SETTING UP THE DEVICE

EXPLORING THE DEVICE_ IN JOKULSARLON

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DEVICE TESTS

TESTING THE DEVICE IN JOKULSARLON

WEAVING THE STRUCTURE

‘DRESSING’ THE DEVICE_ IN JOKULSARLON

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DEVICE TESTS

TESTING THE DEVICE IN JOKULSARLON

DURING NIGHT

LIGHTENING THE STRUCTURE

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DEVICE TESTS

TESTING THE DEVICE IN JOKULSARLON

DURING NIGHT

TESTING INNER & OUTER MATERIAL TEMPERATURE

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

‘Institute of Materiality’, Patriksson Sara Jenny, 2011

‘Knitting Fashion, Industry, Craft’, Black Sandy, 2012

‘Techno textiles 2: revolutionary fabrics for fashion an design’, Clarke Sarah E. Braddock, 2005 ‘Fashioning Felt’, Brown Susan, 2009

‘Knitting technology’, Pergamon Press, 1983

‘Kettenwirkerei Technologische und Bindungstechnische Grundlagen sowie Mustereinrictungen’, 1971 ‘Yurts: Living in the Round’, Becky Kemery, 2006

‘Transmitting Craft Heritage through Contemporary Architecture’, Claudy Jongstra, 2008 ‘Felt: The Soft Revolution’, Helene Renard, 2014

‘The wall as living place: Hollow structural forms in Louis Kahn’s work’, Francesco Cacciatore ‘Knitted Skins’, Mette Ramsgard Thomsen, CITA studio

‘Textile Logic for a soft space’, Mette Ramsgard and Thomsen Karin Bech, CITA studio

‘Knitting Architecture: 20 Patterns Exploring Form, Function, and Detail’, Tanis Gray, 2013 ‘Sheep & Man’, M.L. Ryder

IMAGE CREDITS p.3: ‘Traditional felt making’, Fashioning Felt p.6: The ‘Snowblanket’ by Vik Prjonsdottir

p.8: The very thick walls of the Castle Hedingham in Essex, Pinterest p.13: Horiuchi Macadam amazing ‘Crocheted playground’, Japan

p.15+16: Shukstelinsky’s ‘Cocoon’ project, by Tanya Shukstelinsky, Archdaily p.17: Peter Zumthor’s Bruder Claus Field Chapel project, Archdaily p.21: Factory, ‘Fashioning Felt’

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INTERVIEWS Gistihusin Gordum, a farmer in Reynisfjara beach Vigfús Þór Hróbjartsson, the City Planner of Vik

Orn Sigurdsson, the Managing Director of ICEWEAR & Vikurprjorn Factory in Vik

Brynhildur Pálsdóttir, designer and owner of Icelandic design firm ‘Vík Prjónsdóttir’

WEBSITES Vik.is Vikprjonsdottir.com Icewear.is

PUBLICATIONS Myrdalshreppur Master Plan 2012 - 2028 Tourism In Iceland In Figures, 2014

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