'Wind knitting factory' developed by Merel Karhof is a mechanical wind-powered knitting machine. It sustainably produces long tubes of knitted material which is then harvested to make individually packages scarves.
The idea initially came to Karhof during one of her walks, noticing the strong wayward winds blowing through the surrounding streets. 'While I was trying to walk in a straight line from the Royal College of Art towards Kensington olympia, I was confronted with lots of cul de sacs. Interesting to me was the way the wind blows in and out these spaces, unlike in normal streets where the wind blows only in one direction. Looking at this phenomenon, I set myself the brief to use this ‘free’ energy source and create a product with it. I created a mechanical wind powered knitting machine, which knits fast when there is a lot of wind and slow when there is not a lot of wind.' - MK
Karhof further explains her work:
"I define my work within the public space. I use elements that people share, from the most obvious thing like the wind, to ignored details like the pattern on a manhole cover. In my approach to design, I choose a specific heritage and make people experience it in a new way. ‘Wind Knitting Factory’ demonstrates this approach. Walking in the city of London, I gave myself the constraint to focus on an immaterial element: the wind. The idea was to use the wind to power a machine, which will create a product at the end. I designed a small wind knitting factory that illustrates a little production process from the outside of a building towards the inside. The machine visualizes directly what you can produce with the present amount of urban wind. Along the façade, the knitwear moves slowly through the window into the building as a long scarf, going faster at high wind speed. Every now and then, the wool is harvested and rounded off in individual labelled scarves. The time to knit one is related to its length, and people will protect their neck from the element that has actually conceived the scarf. I also like to use my designs as a way to communicate the history about an area where people live."
'Wind knitting factory' was part of the hotel RCA exhibition, hosted by royal college of art which presented the work of students and recent graduates of the MA course. the exhibition was on show at ventura lambrate during milan design week 2010.
Rounded off individually labeled scarves. The labels describe how much time the two-meter scarves took to make, and which day they were produced.
Via: Designboom
