Erasmus Intensive Program 2012 - Wicker

How far can we go with a light-weight structure that consists of almost weightless twigs? At what point does wicker need support of an additional structure? And how can we scale up a traditional technique that is usually related to basket weaving and small objects, into the scale of architecture? These are some initial questions arising while working with wicker. However, the context that brought us to work with this peculiar material is based on experiences that were made in a row of precedent workshops in the last years since 2008. The project brief of the Intensive Program 2012 relates back to the TECTONIC series 2008-2010 of Erasmus Intensive Programmes as well as to 2011 started STRUCTURE series. In the Tectonic series, we have been working with massive building materials, in particular with stone in different conditions. Looking to extend the field of the tectonic materials, our interest in research and exploring shifted towards light-weight materials. With the STRUCTURE series, beginning with the Intensive Programme 2011, a whole array of new structural questions raised. The research in tectonics of almost erratic materials moved towards an exploration on the various aspects of structure, flexibility and bending while the topic of connecting gained a major importance. With the use of wicker our attention was driven to expand the experiences.

Partner Universities: Gdansk University of Technology (Organiser), Academie van Bouwkunst Amsterdam, Royal Academy Copenhagen, Sint-Lucas Belgium, Universitat Polytécnica de Catalunya, NTNU Trondheim