Action Over Form: Combining Off-Loom Weaving and Augmented Reality in a Non-specification Model of Design

This paper presents a three-part investigation in the use of off-loom weaving and augmented reality (AR) in the construction of architectural building components and assemblies. Tim Ingold’s model of morphogenesis, a conception of form emerging from the interplay of people, tools, and materials, guides the ambitions of the investigation. The goal is to develop architectural spaces not from pre-determined drawings, but through an emergent process of collaborative exchange. AR is explored as an instrument to facilitate this objective. The investigation draws on material science studies on cementitious composite technologies, computational design and construction methods of off-loom weaving, and methods of construction using AR headsets. From these it develops an expanded application for cement composites to make free-standing structures, a collaborative building method using off-loom weaving for architecture, and a method using AR headsets to assist off-loom weaving. These methods and applications facilitate the development of form through expert and non-expert exchange, building through gesture, and interacting with materials. Further advancement of the methodology requires applying a technique to fluidly input geometric coordinates of physical form into a virtual environment.