Fig. 1: Textile fabrication methodology, Fig. 2: Printed sample, Fig. 3. The tulle substrate "wants" to return to its relaxed state, storing elastic potential energy. The printed Voronoi pattern "wants" to maintain its geometric integrity, resisting deformation. The bond between print and substrate negotiates these competing tendencies., Fig. 4: Intra-cellular infill: Patterns printed within individual cell boundaries, densifying specific regions. Inter-cellular infill: Linear connections between adjacent Voronoi cell centres (outerfill), creating a network that spans the textile field., Fig. 5: Grasshopper Script, Fig. 6: Grasshopper Script Output, Fig. 7: 3D-printed samples, Fig. 8: Anisotropy as a stress manipulator for CLO 3D
Degree of Anisotropy: A Textile Epistemology of Making
This research demonstrates textiles as an analytical framework to encode forms of distributed intelligence inaccessible to computational modeling alone, challenging contemporary design's reliance on material homogeneity. Using 3D-printed Voronoi lattices on pre-stretched tulle substrates, we reconceptualize anisotropy (directional variation in material behavior) from engineering liability to design theory cornerstone. While conventional design favors isotropy for predictability, biological textiles achieve adaptive functionality through engineered heterogeneity. By systematically varying infill patterns within Voronoi structures, we establish a methodology enabling textiles to hold contradictory mechanical states simultaneously and respond adaptively without centralized control. Pre-stretched substrates embody temporal duality, maintaining both tensioned and relaxed configurations without resolution. Beyond theoretical frameworks, anisotropy functions as organizational logic for adaptive architectures: envelopes remembering directional loads, facades expressing seasonal deformation, garments teaching posture through variable resistance, and surfaces communicating emotion through geometric transformation.
Acknowledgements: This work was done towards the fulfilment of the Master in Industrial Design program during Spring of 2025 and was partially supported by RISD Industrial Design Department's Marc Harrison Fund.