MatLab Architecture Faculty Show 2.0: Andrew Saunders' Robotic Lattice Smock

Reception: Monday, February 29, 6:30pm

In this exhibition Associate Professor of Architecture Andrew Saunders revisits the pioneering work of 19th-century German architect and historian Gottfried Semper to explore the potential of an age-old embroidering technique to create more efficient, expressive buildings in the 21st century.

In his magnum opus Style in the Technical and Tectonic Arts, Semper maintained that textiles were the mother of all arts. Used throughout history to form the cuffs, bodices and necklines of garments for royalty and laborers alike, lattice smocking distributes stitches across a flat grid at specific gathering points, resulting in a rich relief and complex undulating motif. Working with the fabricators at RoboFold, London, Saunders tested a method for transposing smocking to the robotic folding and bending of sheet metal.

“As an architectural skin, the grid translates easily to a diagrid framework that is able to accommodate countless forms and applications,” Saunders explains. “The Robotic Lattice Smock process is applicable to any lattice-smocking pattern.”

Saunders completed this research as a Robert S. Brown Fellow at the Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute, and will present his work at the 2016 Rob|Arch conference (Robotic Fabrication in Architecture, Art and Design) in Sydney, Australia.

This exhibition is presented by the PennDesign Mat Lab and is the second to highlight the engagement of faculty with material processes which transform the nature of design practices.