Zaha Hadid Architects and ETH Zurich develop knitted concrete system

A double-curved concrete shell made with a 3D-knitted formwork in a collaboration between Zaha Hadid Architects and ETH Zurich has gone on display in Mexico City. KnitCret is a new 3D-knitted textile system for creating curving concrete structures, without the need for expensive and time-consuming moulds. The colourful pavilion is called KnitCandela in homage to the work of Spanish-Mexican architect and engineer Félix Candela, who created dramatic curved concrete shells in his buildings such as the Los Manantiales Restaurant in 1958. Over two miles of yarn was knitted into four strips of between 15 and 26 metres in just 36 hours using a digital fabrication technique, then flown over from Switzerland to Mexico in suitcases.