Living Knitwork Pavilion

2023 Black Rock City Honoraria Art

The Living Knitwork Pavilion is an art, research and immersive experience installation that takes the form of a dodecagonal pyramid structure, standing 18 feet tall and 26 feet wide. It consists of 12 petal fabrics, each individually-designed with 90 textile reliefs. These reliefs, inspired by temple carvings, are distributed parametrically on a knitted-mesh surface and depict 12 stories of a future world — a fusion of human-nature relationships, built environments, and the interplay between organic and synthetic beings. We set to weave contemporary and traditional patterns and motifs in a Knitwork petal narrative ranging from bio-machine symbiosis, solarpunk cities, to deep ocean and space exploration.

The digital fabrication approach of 3D-knitting, this time applied in electronic and responsive textiles at an architectural scale, is an additive manufacturing process starting from a collection of functional and common yarns as design primitives, including recycled polyester from waste plastic bottles, conductive, photochromic and luminous yarns. The entire process enables the building of custom multi-layer aesthetic-technical textiles with unique forms and textures and minimal waste and raw materials. The Knitwork petals are designed with mesh-like openings for light and wind to pass through, double-knit popped-up tactile and sensing patterns, thermoplastic yarns for shaping, and custom channels for anchoring ropes and electrical cabling. In support of Burning Man's push for more sustainable art, the Pavilion also runs entirely on battery power and solar cells. We worked together with the Solar Library, a sculptural solar panel that distributes energy to other arts on the playa, to eliminate generators and noise while promoting the use of renewable energy sources.

The central structure of the Pavilion, installed in Black Rock City, Nevada, features an asymptotic lattice network of lumber elements, optimized for aesthetic, structural integrity (up to 70mph wind-load), while minimizing material usage. By day, the “Living Knitwork Pavilion” serves as a shading structure, providing a communal space for discovery, relaxation, and meditation. As the sun rises, hidden-encrypted textile patterns are revealed through photochromism. 

As night falls, the Pavilion glows and then transforms into an illuminated and interactive space. Integrated within the Knitwork petals are a network of antennas made from the knitted conductive yarns and connected to an analog circuit, consisting of amplifiers, filters, and converters, which couple with each other and pick up an electrical field transmitted by the central structure. The electric-field-sensing principle is akin to that of the theremin musical instrument and can also be found in certain species of fish, which perform electrolocation to navigate or sense objects or prey in their vicinity. The Knitwork antennas constantly sense our movements, as our body couples with or disrupts the electrical field distribution to drive a spatial audio and lighting network in real time, turning the Pavilion into a responsive, thereminic lantern that reflects the energy and interactions of visitors, fostering moments of collective and immersive experience

Throughout Burning Man, the pavilion hosted pop-up events, from yoga sessions, dance performances, live music, and even a wedding ceremony. Unfortunately, in the last two days of the event, a heavy rainstorm hit the Black Rock Desert — a rarity for the event. Yet, this climatic twist worked in favor of the pavilion, helping cleanse its textile surface from the accumulated dust and reviving its vivid blue color. 

The result of this grand project is a collaboration that transcends disciplinary boundaries. We aim to exemplify the remarkable possibilities that arise when architecture, technology, and textile arts converge and bring communities together. 

Feature: “Building a textile sanctuary for an ephemeral metropolis”, MIT School of Architecture and Planning, 2023.

Blog “Seamlessly Weaving Textile Art, Culture and Technology in the Living Knitwork Pavilion”, Burning Man Journal, 2023. Desert Arts Preview, Burning Man: ANIMALIA, 2023.

Coverage MITNews | KnittingIndustry | Archdaily | Archinet | Designboom | ArchiPanic