PATTERNMOLDING

source: risdedu

Mary Kawenski is on sabbatical for the 2013–14 academic year.

Mary Kawenski, professor of Apparel Design, currently teaches developing collections at the senior level and directs and produces the Apparel Department’s annual fashion show. Before teaching at RISD, she designed under her own label Kreyka and taught at Ryerson University’s School of Fashion in Toronto, Ontario. She taught a workshop on Professional Design Techniques to the apparel industry in Lima, Peru and presented a paper on Critical Thinking for Apparel Designers at the International Symposium on Education of Fashion Design at Colleges held at the China Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou, China. Kawenski is a freelance designer and has worked on various projects as a consultant for start-up programs to the apparel and accessories industries. Her present design work focuses on using sustainable materials to design apparel and accessories made in an environmentally sensitive manner.
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source: cargocollective

Focused on the new emerging discipline generated by the intersection of Design, Fashion Design and Architecture, the class brought together students from a myriad of design disciplines (Fashion, Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Textiles) with interests in exploring the body as a virtual landscape for generative design. Architect Niccolo Casas of The Bartlett, London,and Architect Ludovico Lombardi of LDVC and Zaha-Hadid Architects, London, led the RISD/CE course. With no previous knowledge of 3D modeling platforms, students were introduced to Maya, Autodesk’s award-winning 3D software, which for the purpose of this class, offered unmatched system speed and streamlined workflow for generative design using additive manufacturing (3D printing). Lombardi and Casas have been using Maya as a catalyst to explore computational design concepts for architecture, and most recently, the emerging intersection of design between architecture and fashion. As a starting point to understanding the body before exploring the form in a virtual format, students learned basic draping and patternmaking techniques taught by RISD Apparel Design Department Chair, Catherine Andreozzi, and Maria Canada, teaching assistant. As students became more fluent in the use of Maya’s modeling tools, they began design research of complex morphologies and biomimicry to begin developing “fashion artifacts.” RISD’s Nature Lab provided ample specimens that students observed under high-powered microscopes. From this inspirational fieldtrip, students investigated the juxtaposition of natural structural systems and patterns found on a macro level against the complex geometries they were creating in Maya. After refining their ideas, students test printed their designs in resin. Final student presentations included the demonstration of the concept, research, and design processes involved in creating their body-centric designs.