Concrete between fabric; you’re probably familiar with it if you’ve done any tile work in the last 20 years. Similar to the way drywall is plaster made stable between 2 sheets of paper, concrete board is given shape and stabilized by fabric. Now take that concept and scale it up to make whole walls instead of boards or bend it to make furniture. Use the fabric to define the shape of the concrete.
Its an interesting tension that happens. The concrete pushes out with its weight, while the textile restrains and suggests a shape for the concrete. I say suggest because left on its own, fabric can’t help but to bulge where allowed and pinch where connected to the other side, but it can’t be exact unless given a rigid form for the concrete to cure against. Another line of attack is to impregnate the textile with concrete, much like a plaster bandage, and then through support or inflation or gravity, coerce the fabric into a shape until the concrete is cured. I’m reminded of Heinz Isler’s plaster models for his concrete roofs, where he let the natural curvature of the inverted textile form define the architecture.
This emerging field has a dedicated blog: Concretely, which is written by Anne-Mette Manelius, who is a Phd Student in Copenhagen and is doing great work with casting walls, furniture and patterned textiles in concrete. Its a well written, insightful and informative blog about a line of study I hadn’t really considered until last week.
I’m sure there will be more mentions at textilesmithing of fabric formed concrete in the future. For now, check out: concretely.blogspot.com