Veiled Craft is a highly conceptual micro school located near UT’s campus, on Cumberland Ave, in Knoxville, Tennessee. This project began as a challenge to proactively think about how form follows function. This, in a way, is how architecture introduces newness into society. This project specifically focuses on material and combining a standard material’s attributes and appeal with new functionalities in settings.

Veiled Craft: A Micro School began through a material study of cotton knit alongside the former impact of the textile industry in Knoxville. The goal is to reintroduce Knoxville’s once-thriving industry by educating students about how textures are made as well as their unique material qualities. The internal functions of this setting are dependent on our chosen material and designed to create a space suitable for student education in a small space.

The ultimate goal of this project is to create a space that is adaptable enough for students while using our chosen material. My material in particular is cotton knit fabric that explores the complexities of the simple phrase “light versus dark.” These investigations will develop into a fully functional material space.

The concept begins by investigating the variety of density in weave within cotton knit fabrics and formulating those responses into 12 transparent panels layered upon one another in order to uncover how light illuminates through the woven patterns. The idea is to use these 12 woven formulations as curtains pulled along a ceiling-mounted grid system. These curtains provide a modular space for students within the micro-school in order to utilize the space to its maximum potential. The students will have the ability to knit the curtains themselves in order to promote individuality and variety within the curtain-scape.