Mark West / FabricForm

We enjoyed the UW Department of Architecture lecture given by Mark West of C.A.S.T., Winnipeg, who spoke of the beauty and usefulness of using fabric forms for reinforced concrete construction.

“Work at CAST generally begins with relatively small physical models made with “analog” materials (plaster to model concrete, paper or plastic sheets to model sheet metal, etc,). These models allow us to play with combinations of materials, tools, and processes, and to think about how the forms and ideas found might be extended to full-scale design and construction. This method relies on the “intelligence” of the materials themselves for clues to the architectural potential they may hold.”   C.A.S.T. website

His vivid descriptions of beginning with small scale models parallel our initial work of creating samples which does allow ‘the intelligence of the fabric’ to guide us in design and construction of garments.

Halston understood this innate intelligence saying, “The fabric will teach you, the fabric tells you what it wants to do.’

You just have to pay attention.

More about Mark West’s work:

http://unit03-metamorphosis.blogspot.com/2013/01/mark-west-cast.html