10. Textile Scaffold¶
Research¶
Every week I am amazed by all the new approaches that you can achieve for textiles and Fashion, new discoveries and new techniques, new points of view and a new opportunity to get out of your comfort zone. Anastasia Pistofidou’s lecture was fascinating, she talked about all the applications of textiles as scaffold.
Scaffolding¶
Scaffolding has existed for a very long time, perhaps since man began to build upwards, applying extensive use of branches, wooden planks, or bamboo, connected with ropes, nails, and articulated interlocking games. It is a fundamental component in the field of construction, representing a temporary grid structure with platforms. The structure of the scaffolding can be made using a variety of materials, including wood, aluminum, and steel, based on the specific needs of the project.
Biocomposite¶
Biocomposites are natural fibre-reinforced biopolymers. Biocomposites, innovative materials derived from a synergy of biopolymers and reinforcing agents, that have emerged as promising contenders and scienties have been developing these materials as an alternative to conventional materials that may be nonrenewable, recalcitrant, or manufactured by pollution emitting processes. The foundation of biocomposites lies in their composition, typically encompassing natural polymers such as collagen, chitosan, or alginate, interwoven with reinforcing elements like cellulose, nanofibers, or hydroxyapatite.
[Biocomposites]{https://www.sciencedirect.com/}
Crystallization¶
Crystallization is a process that leads to solids with highly organized atoms or molecules. Crystallization can occur by various routes including precipitation from solution, freezing of a liquid, or deposition from a gas. It can form a single crystal, perhaps with various possible phases, stoichiometries, impurities, defects, and habits. The final form of the solid is determined by the conditions under which the fluid is being solidified, such as the chemistry of the fluid, the ambient pressure, the temperature, and the speed with which all these parameters are changing. A crystal or crystalline solid, is a solid material whose constituents, such as atoms, molecules or ions, are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. The scientific study of crystals and crystal formation is known as crystallography. Every crystal has an orderly, internal pattern of atoms, with a distinctive way of locking new atoms into that pattern to repeat it again and again.
As crystals grow, differences in temperature and chemical composition cause fascinating variations. The crystals grow when there is the right conditions all together: space, heat, pressure, time and the right mix of chemical ingredients.
[Geologypage]{https://www.geologypage.com/2016/03/how-do-crystals-form-grow.html#google_vignette}
Inspiration¶
I looked through a lot of alumnis fron Fabricademy and looked for inspiration. I loved the work of Alicia Potts and Carole Collet. both amazing designers and always challenching themselves to do new things and making concious with each work.
Alicia Potts¶
She is a Bio / Innovational Material Specialist, specializing in the identification and research of new materials, as well she is a creator of product with view of the direction and implementation of them into fashion systems. She pays attention on the product diversification direction from a creative and design-driven perspective. She demostrate a development of performance capabilities and requirements to create desirable, scalable and feasible bio-based materials for specific applications. Innovator of Sweat crystallisation, Bio-based Plastics and New material.
Carole Collet¶
Carole Collet has been fascinated with synthetic biology since she had the privilege to work with Sir John Sulston in 2007. She is also a researcher, designer, and curator of the exhibition ‘Alive: New Design Frontiers’ at the EDF Foundation in Paris. Carole Collet is currently working on projects that imagine how reality might be in 2050. She is a Professor in Design for Sustainable Futures and Director of the Design & Living Systems Lab at Central Saint Martins in London. She likes to draw a future scenario in which an overpopulated planet cannot cope with their needs for food and clothing.
Workflow¶
Crystals¶
Needed materials:¶
▪ Crystal powder (Borax, Alum, Pottasiun Nitate)
▪ Tap water
▪ Filter paper (or a fabric to filter the solution)
▪ Clean jars
▪ Stainless steel pots
• Different materials to crystalized: textile, pipe cleaners, leather
• Textiles or paper to cover the jars
General steps:¶
1. Prepare all the needed materials and prepare the structures that can be made of fabrics. Fix the structure inside the container in such a way that it does not touch the bottom or the sides of the container.
2. Boil the water
3. Mix the crystal powder + water
4. Stir until the powder is fully dissolved
5. Filter the obtained solution into the jar
6. Wait...
7. Remove the structure and wash it. Then apply some nail polish all over the piece.
ALUM¶
Recipe¶
. 2 1/2 tablespoons alum
. 1/2 cup very hot tap water
First I gather all the ingredients. I wanted to try different textures and materials. For the alum I decided to use a textile called in Mexico "manta de cielo" (sky blanket), some stones gather on the textile to see if I could get different shapes and the pipe cleaners.
I looked for the recepies that were given on the lecture and follow step by step the indications. While the water was on the fire I hold with thread the different stones ans in different position and prepare the jar and hol the textile with some clothespins and made a kind of snowflake with a silver pipe cleaner and a spiral with a pink one. After I finished the procedure I pour the solution into de jars.
I made it on the late afternoon, so I waited until the next day and see if it had worked. Sadly it did not. I was not sure what was the issue, but I made a research and found out that propably needed more alum and that I could heat the solution adding more alum and leave it again all night. I hope this works.
My final results of the alum crystals were quiet nice
BORAX¶
Recipe¶
. 3 tablespoons borax
. 1 cup very hot tap water
With the use of Borax, I made the same mixture as with alum following the recipe. I prepare the pipe cleaners, a piece of lace and a piece of leather to see the reaction of the powder with different materials, the jar and the solution following anastasias recepies from the lecture.
In this case, the pipe cleaners did form some crystals but not as much as they were suppoed to. The other two jars were exactly the same, so I made the procedure again adding more Borax and I left them again over night.
Here the photos of the other two jars without crystals. In the leather's case what happened was that it detached the paint.
My final results
SODIUM NITRATE¶
Recipe¶
. 110 g NaCIO
. 100 ml hot water.
I prepared two different textiles, one a printed satin and the other suede. I ganged them in the middle of the jar. On the stove, I put the water into the pot, heated it and dissolved the sodiun nitrate. When it got dissolved I pour the liquid into the jar and let it cooled down. After a fee hours there where some crystals formed on the bottom of the jar like needless.
I put a textile in another jar, but It was soo big that it absorded all the wate. I will try it with a smaller piece.
My final results
BIOCOMPOSITE¶
When we had the lecture week before about biofabrication and biotextiles, I tried to do the bio resin, but it did not work at the time, so I decided to give it a try this time and tried it first with lace on a mannequine previously cover with plastic.
Recipe:¶
. 48 g Grenetine
. 8 g Glycerine
. 240 ml water
The mixture should be first mixed all the components at 60°C until smooth and then boil at 100°C for 5- 10min. Boilng the plastic will change the chains and make it harder but slightly more brittle.
It was a bit of a caos because the bio-resin while it dries is liquid and it slipped onto the mannequin and lost its shape, but with patience it began to dry and retain the shape. I made a collar. I waited the night to dry and by the next day I was stiffed and a little flexible at the same time. I removed the lace from the mannequin and tried it on. It´s nice!
SCAFFOLDING¶
In order to make the scaffolding I started by making my files in Rhino. My first attempt was to make a skeleton spine and another file with bubbles. I asked in the University whether we had a CNC machine and I found out that we did, one at the wood workshop and another for metals at the engeniering workshop lab.
At the Fablab they have one thermoforming machine but to be able to use it you need to have a mold and to use it with textile we need time to make samples and regulate the temperature and the time.
When I went to the wood workshop with my files ready they told me that the skeleton file was not able to be cut on the CNC mchine, because it did only curves and not corners. I was a little disappointed but at least I had the bubbles file.
As the skeleton was not able to cut on the CNC machine and that was going to have the possitive and negative mold, I had to do the file for the vacuum machine in order to do the bubbles.
The vacuum machine I cut it as well in the CNC machine because I had it all ready used it with the bubbles' mold, but I could have done it at the Fab lab with the laser machine as well.
After I had it all cut out and took it out of the CNC machine I had to take ou all the imperfections. I really enjoyed doing it. It was fun!
After I finished doing all this I was ready to try it on. I had to make many attempts but I think I managed to get good samples.
First I tried it with a very light chiffon fabric. I did not prepared the fabric, I mean I placed it on the mold directly with out bioresin or starch. I wanted only to try it out and see whether the numbers of holes made were enough or to many or to width.
When I tried it with the shiffon, I noticed that it did work, but it had to many holes and the suction effect was not as I expected and as I had seen in other videos. After analying it at the Fablab, we realized that the problem was on the boad. Turned out that the holes were to width (0.3 mm) and they had only a distance between them of 100 mm. Therefore there suction was difficult for my vacuum cleaner. So I had to cut a new board with less holes and more distance between each other. So fo the new board I stablished a hole every 2 cm and of 0.07 mm diameter each.
Once I had it I glue it to the base of the vacuum machine with silicone waited 24 hours and tried it again with a different fabric and with leather. The results were much better. The fabric was a suede fabric, whitch I wased and put on it starch, the one used on the dry cleaners. and while it was stile a bit wet I place it on tje mold and turned on the vaccum cleaner on and started the suction effect on it.
After the first attempt worked, I look for some leather and soaked it in water with softener for almost 3 hours. After that I took it out of the water and squeezed it and place it over the mold. I was hard because the pieces weren't big to cover all the surface, but I place one piece at a time trying to stretched it as much asa I could and then I turned on the vacuum cleaner and started the suction process. and this is the result.
I was curious to know if the vacuum machine could work with other type od objects, so I looked for a kind of sea shell that looks like a skeleton from my sea shell collection. I found one and I tried it out. At first it did not work because the piece was to small and the surface was to big, so there were to many holes.
I decided to cover the holes and leave only a few and tried it again. In this ocation it work. The fabris was cleaned and with some starch with white vinager. After I squeezed the fabric I placed it over the shell and started the vacuum cleaner. The air began to suck and when the fabric took the shape of the shell y started to dried it with the hair dryer and this is the result I obtained.
Fabrication files¶
Bubble mold Bubble mold Bubble mold CDA design CDA design Column skeleton