WOVEN ARCH ITECTUREKATE O ’CONNOR

SPR ING 2013

Thank you to my parents, Christine and Anthony, my colleagues

Becca, Rob, Chris and Rachel, and my thesis professor Paola

Zellner-Bassett, who introduced me to the freedom that comes with

understanding that I am not special and never to expect applause.

To weave is to dance – under, over, under, under, over – and

through the dance a weaver learns to partner with their material.

The repetition becomes muscle memory, second nature, and with

it comes the ability to determine formal outcomes. The weaving

dance begins to appear elsewhere in unexpected moments of a

weaver’s world. The motions parallel the rhythms of the city – the

in and out, conceal and reveal, open and void, left and right – a

symbiotic balance that holds a place together.

This thesis considers weaving in architecture. We are in an age

of parametric making. Software quickly generates “smart” fields –

scripts for massive planes (like skyscraper facades) that attempt

to find ideal sunlight and shading conditions. By comparison, the

speed and intelligence of paper weaving appears glacial. Yet, there

are some quieter surface considerations lost in a digital model.

Physically woven intentions of pattern have formal consequence;

variations in density cause the weave to depart from a flat plane and

pucker or dome. A weaver is acutely aware of the friction holding

the paper’s fibers in place. She learns the point at which a surface

no longer has enough density to fight gravity. She understands her

surface, although small, in a real, tangible way.

The process allows for imagining new kinds of space. The weaves

diagram and iterate warped planes and enclosures and, although

the surfaces are rarely planar, they grid and map themselves by their

regular parts. Questions arise about permeability, rigidity, flexibility,

warp, ground and facade. A new method of thinking and seeing

becomes available to the maker.

This thesis tests the woven process as a method for making

and generating architecture. The trial for the thesis weave is an

infrastructure proposal connecting Houston’s underground,

surface, and skywalk network. The idea of an “Architectural

weave” is explored both conceptually and literally at different points

throughout the project and at different scales. The dance – under,

over – becomes a source of information to translate and build.

FOREWORD

5

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD

SECTION 1 : RESEARCH

1.1 WOVEN STUDIESSURFACE

FORM

STRUCTURE

1.2 WOVEN CITYHOUSTON

LAYERED CITY

NETWORKS

SITE

SECTION 2 : PROJECT

2.1 INTERVENTIONCONCEPT

NATURAL DIRECTION

CONSTRUCTIONS OF CONTEXT

WOVEN DIAGRAMMING

TRANSLATIONS

2.2 WOVEN CONSTRUCTIONBOAT HOUSE + LOOKOUT POINT

5

9

11

15

17

21

23

25

27

29

31

33

35

37

43

49

59

61

9

1.1 WOVEN STUDIES

SECTION 1 : RESEARCH

SURFACE

11

To disassemble a flat plane and remake it thorough weave generates

questions about porosity, elasticity, and form. The process and result have

architectural implications - varying density in a weave controls the apertures

in surface and folding or merging woven parts while making can create

a departure from the plane able to hold its form. These model-textiles

begin at 1/8” wide strips of drawing paper and, through trial and intuition,

become complex surfaces and faceted forms. The nature of the weaves

requires time for careful thought, often about the aesthetic but also about

the architectural potential at different scales. The studies give focus and

information – they are simultaneously diagrams, study models, full-scale

building details, objects and art.

Study Textile 1, side 1

Warp Under

Warp Over

Move piece up along

weft to affect density

Second layer Weft

departs first

Second layer Weft

follows first

Study Textile 1, side 2

Study Textile 1, Weave Diagram

#

NOTE: “Warp” is fixed in the vertical direction and

“Weft” is laced through in the horizontal direction

13

Study Textile 2, side 1

Study Textile 2, Weave Diagram Study Textile 2, side 2

FORM

1.

15

2.

3.

Exploring form began by mapping objects through weave. The hand model above

(image 2) studies the curvatures and connections of fingers to palm. The woven

negotiations of complex moments bore a method for constructing intricate rectilinear

forms. Image 3 is an exploration of merged cubic weaves. The form is a series of wo-

ven surfaces, folded during their making to generate a sharp corner. Other moments

are “pockets” – two surfaces constructed on top of each other and then pulled apart

and frozen through weave in a new direction (see drawing in image 1).

STRUCTURE

At this stage, the objects were considered for their architectural potential as both

rough massing models and actual woven edifices. Considering structure for the

forms and surfaces of the study models began question the potential scale of the

project. When imagining the models at the scale of a city or an infrastructure, materi-

ality remained unresolved, but in models with more literal potential at a smaller scale,

wood and paper became placeholders for steel and Kevlar.

1.

17

The earliest structural masses tried tensing the

paper weaves like tents (image 1 and 2). The it-

erations later tailored the woven pattern to receive

wooden parts into points of overlap or density

(see image 3). These connections advanced the

relationship between structure and surface and

begged the question – what if they not only met

but merged?

The next iteration built up structure like a basket

using a wooden matrix filled in by woven paper

surfaces. The wood itself is also “woven,” there-

fore testing the flexibility of the material. This con-

cept carried the models forward toward an archi-

tecture program and project.

3.

4.

2.

There is significant primal and indigenous precedent for woven

architecture. Tribes in the Sugutu valley of Northwest Kenya make their

homes through weave – the huts are constructed from brush through

a system that capitalizes on particular pieces preforming to the best of

their abilities. The pattern merges larger, structural wood into a surface

shell of smaller parts (image 2). Baskets from the same region merge

two materials into a similar pattern. Fabric and Duom Palm (a local

tree) structure the spiraling “hut baskets” of the northeast Lake Turkana

region (image 3).

Images courtesy of http://www.bamboulaltd.com/ http://www.makindu.org/ and Google Earth

1.

2.

3.

19

The properties of Kevlar - its flexible yet directional surface and its

ribs that behave similarly to the frictional qualities of paper - made it a

candidate for a full-scale exploration. The next question became, what

modern program would benefit from a woven architecture? Part of the

beauty of the tribal weaves is that they make use of local, prevalent

materials. The utilitarian heritage of woven architecture informed the

search for a thesis program.

A direction took shape: The architecture could mirror a storage place full

of Kevlar gear; a place that promised adventure. It would invite intrigue

from its home on the edge of a steel and concrete jungle. It would

weave the wild with the ordered, both in material and site.

The building would be a kayak boathouse and launch; A water site for

a paper exploration.

Weaves rely on density to retain form.

Their structural strength is overlap,

their weaknesses; opening.

No line is superfluous or dies before finding its

Threads weave Plane and planes weave Direction,

to twist and ramp and branch.

And remember their loom or engulf it.

Cities relies on density to grow their section;

to snake underground and to scrape the sky.

People borrow space

and move in paths.

Constructs,

parented by context lines from other constructs,

eventually expire,

make space for new growth

from the construction lines the site retains.

edge

21

1.2 WOVEN CITY

SECTION 1 : RESEARCH

1.

3.

4.

2.

Photo 1 by Michael Davis. Photos 3 and 4 courtesy of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership

23

Downtown Houston, Texas is a commuter city with limited public transit

infrastructure. Residents enter the city in their cars on the street grid, move

up or down to park in the abundance of parking garages, and then get to

their office buildings using a network of underground tunnels to escape the

southwest heat.

The city once relied on its waterfront for transit and goods, but the bayou

was rendered obsolete when cargo ships became too big for the shallow

river. Houston therefore developed inward and buildings and infrastructure by

the water spent nearly 100 years deteriorating and becoming overgrown. As

a demand for commuter infrastructure grew, the city chose to lace highways

over the water rather than disturb adjacent developments (see image 1).

A new initiative by the Buffalo Bayou Partnership has begun to redevelop the

space of the river with the addition of biking and running paths (see image

2). The result is an incredible reinterpretation of residual space, but the water

and the downtown corridor remain fragmented and disconnected.

HOUSTON

Houston is the fifth largest metropolitan area in the united

states. It comprises some 653.6 square miles and more

than 6 million people. The downtown area of the city

exists in districts and layers. The map at left looks at the

skywalks, tunnels, and building programs.

Images courtesy of Google Earth

LAYERED CITY

25

100 500 1000

The urban planning for downtown Houston is

disjointed. Activity categories cluster into districts

with very little overlap. The map sets at right

explain the fragmented nature of Houston’s

downtown. The networks are organized into

“weekday” and “weekend” activities and neither

system has a strong connection to the waterfront.

The webs look at pedestrian movement on the

surface of the city. The diagram also notes that

some attractions require that they be reached

by car.

NETWORKS

27

Weekday Pedestrian Movement

Weekend Pedestrian Movement

100 500 1000

The map pullout at right identifies a site where the

corporate and tourist “networks” outlined on the

previous page could interact and become the focus

of a thesis exploration. The site comprises two city

blocks, currently dedicated to parking lots, and one

block containing a parking garage. The area has

the potential to connect the water to the end of the

tunnel system.

SITE

29

Architecture can’t force people to connect,

it can only plan the crossing points, remove

the barriers, and make the meeting places

useful and attractive.

– Denise Scott Brown

31

2.1 INTERVENTION

SECTION 2 : PROJECT

1.

3.

4.

5.

2.

Images courtesy of ArchDaily.com

33

In order to weave together the layers and networks of Houston, the city needs

a new infrastructure project large enough to span the different districts and

attractive enough to encourage people to cross them. Such an intervention

would have to acknowledge the existing paths and directions of pedestrians

and seek to merge them through practical and beautiful space.

The Houston tunnels and Bayou bike paths are all roughly 20’ below street

level but are separated by a quarter mile of underdeveloped “Historic District”.

The project suggests that the space spanning that distance become an

underground riverwalk able to weave people down from street, up from the

tunnels, north from the corporate district and east from the theater district.

The city’s downtown could finally connect to its waterfront through new

space carved underground.

Images 1, 2 and 3 are of a memorial in Nantes, France that utilizes the residual

space under a boardwalk to create a pedestrian passage. The concept

behind Wodziko Bonder’s subterranean project symbolizes the abolition of

slavery, but the intention and qualities of the project are nonetheless relevant.

La Dallman’s marsupial bridge in Milwaukee also laces pedestrian access

through residual space (Images 4 and 5). The edge of the Houston site also

has a highway overpass that could carry a similar hanging bridge.

By weaving passage under existing infrastructure, the project would connect

not only Houston’s downtown to the water but also to the industrial and

residential districts beyond.

CONCEPT

Houston’s grid aligns with the intersection of the Buffalo and the White Oak

Bayous (see map point A below). The layout was designed to efficiently

move goods inland from a harbor that has long since disappeared. The city

is in need of a new directional system that utilizes the water for recreation

rather than transit and takes into account the rhythms of modern life. The

map sets on the opposite page begin to consider lines along which to

reopen the city to the water.

The map above considers tangency and perpendicularity in the natural

curvature of the bayou. Brown lines extend perpendicularly every 200’

along the center of the bayou and grey (pencil) lines run tangent along

the shore adjacent to those points. The resulting grid generates questions

about the role of direction in new infrastructure; moving people tangently

toward a body of water is a more gradual transition a the interruption of a

perpendicular cut and intersection.

The second map zooms into a triangle of perpendicular lines containing

the site (shown in grey). The new layer of white lines contours existing

parks and infrastructure to find tangent relationships between the city

and the bayou. Points of overlap between the two systems – natural and

constructed – became the foundation for the riverwalk’s master plan.

NATURAL DIRECTION

A

1.

35

Perpendicularity and Tangency

+ Construct Context

100 500 1000

100 500 1000

2.

3.

MARKET SQUARE PARK

MARKET SQUARE GARAGE

SESQUICENTENNIAL PARK

HOUSTON BALLET

HOTEL ICON

CHASE BANK

BUFFALO BAYOU

100’ 500’

500’100’

1” = 128’

N

N

280’

1” = 100’

31.5 º o� grid

Overlaid on the satellite image at left are select lines tangent to

the city’s infrastructure (white) and tangent to the bayou (blue)

that inform the design of a riverwalk intervention. The project

would repurpose two city blocks containing parking lots (points

A and B), partially open the parking lot of a ballet company as

a point of access (point C) and modify a parking garage to

include an elevator for handicap access to the riverwalk (point

D).

The plan, outlined below, takes into account foundation

systems an underground passage through this part of the city

might encounter. The brown portion of the plan is walkable

park space and the blue region proposes a recessed canal

bringing bayou water in close proximity to the skyscrapers of

corporate downtown.

CONSTRUCTIONSOF CONTEXT

100 500 1000

31.5º off grid

37

100 500 1000

A

B

C

D

Site study model

39

Exploded perspective of Riverwalk infrastructure.

PARKING GARAGE

TUNNEL EXTENSION

BOATHOUSE

LOOKOUT POINT

41

HOUSTON BALLET

HIGHWAY OVERPASS

PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE

100’ 280’

The program of the Riverwalk evolved to include points of access

and interest that weave together the strata of the city. Particular

emphasis was put on the design of the southernmost opening; a

plaza where many of the discrete site conditions touch. The point

where water meets land is marked by an urban kayak launch and

boathouse. Where the tunnel opens into outdoor plaza, there

is a lookout point. Intermediate platforms and the tangency of a

triangular plan gradually transition the city’s grid to the waterfront.

43

The plaza is a point of connection between underground tunnel

and surface, water and land, and park and city. The conditions

being connected exist at different depths and require a fluid

and connective architecture. The complexity of the site and

abundance of new directions recalled qualities of the woven

dance; under, over, under, over. Again, the project turned to

paper weaving to diagram the layered site and conceive a space

of interaction.

WOVEN DIAGRAMMING

HOTEL ICON

MARKET SQUARE PARK

HOUSTON

BALLET

ALLEY THEATER

45

In typical textile making, there are two directions of thread. The first, tensed and fixed to a loom, is

called the “Warp.” The second direction, which laces in and out of the warp, is called “Weft.” The study

model phase of the Riverwalk’s southern plaza design employed a similar system; a “site loom” of exist-

ing or necessary pedestrian paths served as a starting point from which to weave surfaces.

When put into context, the models began the transition from diagram

to architecture. The circulation loom of the site (above) considers

moment in three dimensions for the woven models to develop into

diagrammatic weaves exploring surface and grid. When put into

context, the models began the transition from diagram to architecture.

To test scale, form, and space, the diagrams were photographed and turned into

populated renders. The study raised questions about enclosure and exposure and

began to acknowledge density as an opportunity for circulation.

SITE LOOM

47

TRANSLATIONS

2.

1.

3.

5.

4.

49

After analyzing the diagrammatic weaves through vignette renders and chipboard models

(images 1 and 2), the plaza weave jumped up to a 1” = 20’ scale (images 4 and 5). In the

larger weave, moments from the earlier models melded and became more controlled and

specific. The weave led to a topographic foam core iteration that turned the contours of the

paper textile into rough tiers to better understand the project’s section (image 3). Overlaying

and modifying the woven and tiered models informed the final plan of the plaza (next page). 8.

7.

6.

PLAZA ROOF PLAN

28

0’

100’50’

N

51

N

PLAZA AND UNDERGROUND RIVERWALK PLAN100’50’

N

TUNNEL EXTENSION

BOATHOUSE

LOOKOUT POINT

50 100

53

BOATHOUSE

PARKING GARAGE

50 100

BOATHOUSE

55

BOATHOUSE

PARKING / UNLOADING

TUNNEL ACCESS UPPER

PLAZA

BOATLAUNCH

UNDERGROUNDPARK + RIVERWALK

100’50’

57

Perspective looking south from market square park.

59

2.2 WOVEN CONSTRUCTION

PART 2 : PROJECT

Early model iterations of the plaza imagined a cube construction, caught

in a layered, woven field, as a place to explore weaving on a smaller

architectural scale. These spaces, which evolved into a boathouse and

lookout point, connect and control the layers of the intervention. The con-

structs are woven from Kevlar and steel strips and hung from a tapered

steel frame. Their orientation introduces the direction of the city’s grid onto

the site and infrastructure.

As both storage facility and circulation, the space is simultaneously active

and sedentary. The study models in image 1, 2 and 4 explore the duality

of that program and the formal possibilities of such a space. As the mod-

els refined, the relationship translated into a structural dialogue between

the Kevlar and steel.

BOAT HOUSE+LOOKOUT POINT

61

1.

3.

4.

2.

63

Paper and baswood study of boathouse corner and boat rack.

65

10 25

Northwest section of Boathouse

Woven system for boathouse facade and boathouse axonometric drawing.

67