Reviving a Craft through Architecture: Computational Making of a lightweight pavilion based on wire-bending techniques

This paper presents research on a novel approach to the fabrication of lightweight architectural structures based on a traditional craft of wire-bending specific to Trinidad & Tobago. Wire-bending is a dying craft which was developed in the 1930s in the Trinidad Carnival. In it, wire, fiber glass rods and other linear materials are bent with hand tools to create two-dimensional and three-dimensional structures which are decorated and performed by masqueraders. This research investigates how we might revive this dying craft and explore its possibilities in architecture through computational making. The goal of this paper is to: (1) test a computational description of the craft at the architectural scale; (2) conduct structural tests on materials and connections used in the craft; (3) develop new tectonic descriptions in the craft; and (4) fabricate a lightweight pavilion using these techniques. The paper presents the craft, structural tests and construction of the first pavilion based on it, and concludes with a discussion on the work, and possible next steps.