>Confess: Iteration 1

Confession+Catholicism yields the 1500 year old tradition of the confessional. A spacial artifact that holds the confessor and priest. A confessional can be as simple as a screen dividing a room, or as ornate as a carved Gothic example. From these two extremes yields the above process.

In plan(top) two spaces are wrapped by the surface. A priestly space which has a more direct entrance and a confession space that pulls you in more slowly, allowing a transition between the exterior and interior. The form also shades the tops of the two zones-allowing a greater sense of privacy, and buffering sound.

The screen is located in the middle of the two spaces. It follows the form yet reveals the woven structure.

Furniture could be incorporated into the form, however to keep the form a developable surface, furniture could be incorporated separately.

>Form:Roof Iteration 2

This iteration represents a condition where the Jacal would be a suspended entity-defining the character of the space. After several refinements I developed the above attempt to utilize a prefab steel building system as the superstructure which the woven mud could be hung. The large occulus breaks the glass cover while the wind chutes are designed below the enclosure.

>Form:San Isidro as Departure

San Isidro church is an abandoned ruin in the city of Antonito, CO. Built in1932, San Isidro is an interesting case where form can be influenced by the function of the church. this roof structure scheme creates an occulus that corresponds to the sun angles in the area. The wind scoops on the westerly side catch the prevailing winds to provide ventilation to the church. the hyperbolic vault is a visual reference to the gable roof that once sat on the structure-it is also a very structural roof system.

>Weaving:Sketch model 3

The above attempts take the previous sketch to the next level-a more ruled surface and structure. However, I recognize some inaccuracies in the unrollsrf command in Rhino. The end result is very interesting, yet it is not the expected result. Compared to the Rhino generated surface the above differs in curvature. Noticing these differences, should I continue with the above, finishing the weave. Or, leave the above as is and investigate better fabrication techniques?

>Weaving:Sketch model 2

The above begins to take the last sketch to the next level. A weave is nothing if the defined points are not accurate. Much like a loom, I tried to fix known intersection to then weave between. Though the surface is simple and the points of control few, this begins to address the accurate process for weaving a surface. The unroll command is not successful for point defining because it lays flat all points, thus connecting the points only creates a flat weave. Yet, when specific strips are split and unrolled individually from a surface, then the surface can take shape. The next sketch will address multiple control points, and a woven intervention between the control points.

>Weaving:Sketch model 1

The above photos represent a sketch attempt at digitally generated weaving. From a surface in Rhino, I adjusted the U/V curves to striate the surface into two stripped files. Then, through the UnRoll command i created two templates-one for horizontal weaving and one for vertical weaving. Learning from the Native American basket techniques I tried to create thicker vertical bands and more slender and flexible horizontal bands. After a few passes at weaving the two together i realized that chipboard is not the best material. Also, I'm wrestling with how the surface's undulations will be registered....how will the weave pull in and out as a surface does?

>Rapid Prototypes: Dr.Behrokh Khoshnevis

Dr.Behrokh Khoshnevis' research centers around the use of countour crafting.A process which can rapidly create a building through a robotic layering process. Many advantages are found with this process especially in relief situtions where large scale rebuiding is needed. In more recent studyies Dr.Khoshnevis has experimented with the layering of cermics, much like that of a pot.

>Weaving:Takeo Tanabe

Takeo Tanabe is an amazing bamboo weaving artist from Japan. He was educated Osaka and Tokyo where he graduated with a degree in sculpture. As a fourth generation weaver he carries with him a long history of intrinsic techniques-allowing him to formaly push the limits of hand weaving.

>Weaving:Yurt Dwelling

The Yurt is a common domical dwelling found throughout Northern Afghanistan and also in the Pamir Mountains. The dwelling is a simple one room space but the construction is a fairly sophisticated process. The Yurt is consisted of a lattice wall system fram that can expand and contract due to the pinned lattice work. A roof system of willow wood is also pinned to the frame and the whole structure is then finished with a covering of felt, ropes and woven reed. The above examples are but two styles of Yurts, whose forms vary slightly by tribe.

>Weaving:Yurok Native American Tribe

coiling


twining

plaiting

Yurok Pot


warp/weft chart

The above diagram quickly demonstrates the array of materials and strategies that one tribe, the Yurok located in the northern Californian Mountains, uses for its basket design strategies. There are hundreds of Native American tribes, each with their own culture that shapes the nature of their basket weaving. However some general parallels can be made-each tribe utilizes some form of warp and weft weaving. More specifically coiling, twining, and plaiting are common, time tested techniques. The specific materials may change from tribe to tribe but the concepts remain the same. For example, finer grasses are woven for more water tight baskets and beefier material for more structural pots.

>Ceramic:Pottery of Islamic Cultures

Ceramic are a ubiquitous reality to almost every major cultural society since the dawn of time-from native Americans to ancient Greeks. Yet, by the very nature of Islamic culture the examples and breadth of pottery is overwhelming. Due to the religious view on imagery, Islamic pottery becomes a skilled experimentation in graphics and to some extent form. Also, the prevalence of earth architecture in these societies also makes the above examples interesting.

The basic curvilinear forms taken by these pieces begin to speak to the structural and production realties of using earth. Since the above examples are the result of hand crafting, molding and shaping becomes a free form act. Also, basic physics informs us that a curved surface is more structural then a flat surface. Hence, the structural logic of an egg-and how egg like many pottery becomes. This must be an excepted form due to its strength from repeated inherent cultural knowledge.

From a process stand point, many Islamic pots were fired, then glazed. A logical process to strengthen the pots. Also, the above examples reveal the innovation of mold use to heighten the production of some pots.

>Ceramic:Full Scale Dwelling

“Now the time has come to create a new scale in the ceramic world, to walk out from the womb of a pot to the space of a room.”-Nader Khalili

Using traditional Islamic glazing and firing as a departure point, Nader and his collegues sought to create a full scale ceramic architecture. From the cultural use of ceramic tiles for flooring and wall material, ceramic for wash basins and water closets Nader actually created an entire system that contained many of these systems built into the ceramic architectural form.
From the conception of the full scale ceramic house came the execution. After learning from local (Iranian) artisans, Nader perfected the glazing strategy to be used-even using the pesticide sprayers ubiquitous to the farming region for the glaze spray guns. After glazing, then the entire structure was used as a kiln, firing itself. On one occasion Nader used a single firing, a process to set the glaze and ceramic. But, the most effective results were obtained in the usual two fire system. the first firing known as the bisque, lasted for 24 hours. The second firing to set the glaze lasted for 12 hours.
While somewhat limited, Nader's experiment raises excellent notions of scale and the use of traditional techniques in earth architecture.