Robin Pleun Maas is a designer specialised in knitting and part of the Envisions design collective. She aims to create innovative (combinations of) materials and looks for unexpected structures and shapes. For the 'Archive of the Future' project, she collaborated with the TextielLab’s knitting specialist Sarena Huizinga. She was inspired by the 3D structures in knitting and weaving samples in the TextielLab’s archive.
Maas and Huizinga researched various combinations of materials, such as elastic, and stitches that create a three-dimensional shape or surface in knits. Besides their visual appeal, these ‘structured textiles’ also have properties that can serve a functional role, such as an acoustic screen or object.
Maas and Huizinga experimented with extreme effects, such as large ribbing and round fold lines that pull the knit concave or convex. The use of different yarns, such as melting or shrinking yarns, in certain places in the knit increased this effect. The next step, which was not part of this project, would be to create an autonomous fabric form that can stand on its own. Folding structures are suitable for this but not rigid enough. More yarn research is needed than this project currently accommodates. Furniture or clothing applications are also being considered.
Archive of the Future, Secrets of Making, TextielMuseum Tilburg, 2021
