Temporary Fashion Museum
Flying Architects is part of the exhibition Dressed by Architects in the Temporary Fashion Museum. Flying Architects is a project by Studio Plott (Rudi Boiten and Mireille Burger) in collaboration with Roos Meerman.
Flying Architect is a continuation of Studio Plott's research into the possibilities of 3D printing. The designers have built a 3D printer that allows them to print textile-like structures on a scale of several square metres. The outcomes of their experiments with printing graphic patterns can best be compared with weaving, embroidery or macramé. The prints are flexible, strong and light. The process resulted in a series of wall objects and net and panel curtains.
Following on from these experiments, Studio Plott joined forces with designer Roos Meerman to seek out new possibilities for weaves and patterns. Sharing a fascination for 3D printing, they became convinced that it must be possible to build objects with a flying printer, in other words, a printer drone. Just as a bird builds a nest, or a spider its web, this drone would be able to construct three-dimensional woven and knitted articles, which could be used in both architecture and fashion.
Studio Plott and Roos Meerman see a melding of architecture and fashion. They see how new technologies are changing fashion: garments are being given more shape, structure and relief. The body is becoming enveloped in sculptural, almost architectonic forms. In architecture, buildings are being wrapped in textile-like structures and architects are exploring softer and more flexible constructions. The designers hope that Flying Architects will achieve a maximum liberation of form for both disciplines.
Rudi Boiten and Mireille Burger founded Studio Plott after graduating from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2014.
Roos Meerman won the New Material Fellowship 2014, which enabled her to spend a research period at Het Nieuwe Institiuut. She also won both the Hendrik Valk Prize and the Design and Innovation Prize Gelderland in 2014.