Material Matters

How might a research-oriented design practice look? What methods are appropriate? What forms of publication specific to the discipline can be developed beyond classical papers? How can the approaches of design research be combined with experimental material development? These questions are considered from a practice-oriented perspective with a firm basis in theory.

The result is an explorative, coherent collection of material samples consisting of seventy-two samples using both textile manufacturing technologies and digital production techniques. The five techniques of knitting (machine and hand), crochet, macramé, laser cutting, and 3D printing have been combined in different ways. The samples are supplemented by an associated mapping of the samples in the form of a chronological overview corresponding to the techniques used, a network card showing the links between the samples, and a set of index cards enabling the samples to be viewed and grouped according to different criteria.