Textile hybrid

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The project starts from the restoration of an iconic historical building in Milan, the Castello Sforzesco. The intervention brief called for a reduction of the light reaching Leonardo da Vinci’s frescoes, while still giving a perception of visual connection to the outside. 

Knitted fabrics have a visual permeability that provides just that, so they were chosen to cover the two vaulted windows of the room, that reach 3 meters in width and 6 in height. The fabric stretches into a doubly-curved surface that complements the vaulted ceiling, while adding extra stability at the same time. This also allowed for the fabric to be produced in one single piece, since production width was limited to 2 meters.

The final solution for the self-standing structure is a so-called textile hybrid, made of rigid bent rods and fabric in tension. This novel hybrid structure needs only 4 perforations to be installed and no perforations on the vault, which was one of the priorities of the client. The design process was informed by material tests, analysis of the structure’s stability with a computational model, a 1:10 model, a 1:1,5 mock-up and a 1:1 prototype.

SenseKnit, presented at Milan Design Week 2019 and MADE Expo 2019, is a sensorial pavilion that combines tradition and innovation. The project makes use of engineered fibers and digital knitting to investigate the way textiles can influence architectural comfort and human senses. 

The SenseKnit pavilion is divided into four thematic areas that offer different scenarios of comfort and user experiences that cater to all senses: acoustic, climatic, visual and structural. Different types of fabrics were produced specifically for each area,  featuring special yarns depending on the function, for example light-sensitive fibers or hollow-core ones for noise absorption.

The areas are designed as a response to the needs of the continuously evolving contemporary architectural space. The knitted textiles are made of performative polyester yarns produced from post-consumer plastic bottles, giving a hint at how sustainability can be applied to interior design in the future.

The IN.TENSION exhibition was held with the occasion of the 6th TensiNet Symposium from the 3rd to the 15th of June 2019 at Politecnico di Milano and brought the attention to the ongoing change in the field of tensile architecture. An exhaustive mapping of the most innovative lightweight structures built in the last 5 years took over the main exhibiting hall of the architecture faculty, Spazio Mostre Guido Nardi.

An exhibition entirely in tension, reflecting the main theme and accentuating the idea of lightness by having a seemingly floating array of displays. Plexiglass and transparent threads were used to tension visually levitating posters, which in their turn were intertwined in a way that is reminiscent of weaving. 

Visitors could also enjoy the lounge space created with the Raytent seats and rug, kindly lent to the exhibition by Giovanardi. These rugs and pouffes are made of recycled waste from the awning industry, which highlights the existing initiatives that are trying to reduce waste coming from tensile architecture and using them to improve comfort in interior and outdoor spaces.