Weaving Knowledge

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WEAVING KNOWLEDGE — Methods and approaches of Annie and Josef Albers applied to a participatory design project

Weaving knowledge is divided into two macro-groups: design education and weaving. Josef and Anni Albers had been taken as reference points to develop the various arguments of the thesis. The first part of the project ends with a workshop whose participants are people not involved in the world of design; the aim of the workshop is to collect a large number of patterns created independently by the group. Later, the various patterns had been studied and re-worked to produce a formal composition that has been woven.

The final tapestry wants to be the material visualization of a participatory design, created by the first approach of non-designers to design and which is subsequently re-worked to become something else.

THE WORKSHOP — The first part of the thesis ended with a workshop developed for people not involved in the world of art or design. The aim of the workshops was to collect a large number of patterns created independently as a group by the participants. The participation of ordinary people in this creative process not only leads the participators to be more aware of what they see around them every day but at the same time creates a sense of community and belonging within the workshop.

All the exercises are elaborated and developed by the group as a single entity and not just by the individual, in this way the various results are the consequence of the participation and interaction between the different participants.

WARMING UP EXERCISES

FIRST EXERCISE: CAUSE-EFFECT

SECOND EXERCISE: ALWAYS LESS

THIRD EXERCISE: MESSA IN CARTA (weave diagram)

THE TAPESTRY — This second part ended with the creation of the actual tapestry. From this point, the experience of the designer comes into play, which must try to enhance the material collected during the workshop. As the participants ventured into something unknown through the workshop, I likewise challenge myself to create something beyond my capabilities, somehow out of my comfort zone as a graphic designer. The tapestry becomes, therefore, not only a symbol of participation but also of regaining that manual skill and slowness that have been lost.

The tapestry is, therefore, the result of time and the creative energy exercised. The entire project was carried out to develop and test a new method of approach to design. Its usefulness, therefore, lies not so much in the finished work, but in the process to achieve it.