Inflection: Assembling Interdisciplinary Material Knowledge using Knitted Fabric Construction

Inflection is the outcome of interdisciplinary research working across knit design and historic archives held at The Royal Armouries, Leeds. The aim of the research was to develop new knitting techniques using CNC knit technologies through analysis of the functional and performative properties of historic Chinese arms and armour. The methodology applied the concept of the artefact as a means to communicate thinking across disciplines between knit design researchers and historians. Using specific pieces from the collection, research investigated the lacing structures of lamellar armour and the assembled composition of composite bows as methods to achieve complex form in knit at an architectural scale. Key findings evaluate the use of artefacts and prototypes as tools for interdisciplinary collaborative research. In addition the research presents a new material system for knit where the rigid and the flexible are recurved within a knitted assembly creating new large scale geometries.