Heat responsive tension structures

Graduate students Felecia Davis and Delia Dumitrescu recently presented their research on interactive, knitted tension structures that respond to heat or electrical current. Using a tubular knitting machine, with electronic circuits running throughout the fabrics tested, Davis (a PhD candidate at MIT) and Dumitrescu (PhD candidate at The Swedish School of Textiles, BorÃ¥s), tested and created four tubular fabric structures that change surface appearance when stimulated in response to current or heat. One prototype opens up regular “pores” when heated to high temperature; another changes opacity depending on an electrical current. Davis and Dumitrescu presented their papers in early November at the IFAI Expo 2012 in Boston, and an exhibition of their research prototypes, “Patterning by heat: Responsive textile structures,” was on view in the Keller Gallery at MIT Architecture from 5–14 Nov.