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Weaving Histories
ACADEMIC | ARC1012
DESIGN STUDIO II
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Instructor: Tom Ngo
April 2021
The concept for my design for the Haudenosaunee Centre of Excellence weaves together some aspects of feminine and masculine Indigenous history through materiality, circulation, and form. While the women of the Mohawk nation were known for their basketry, the men were known for being skillful high-steel ironworkers. The men usually took to the task of riveting, which was one of the most difficult, albeit high-paying, positions in ironworking.
After the fall of the Quebec Bridge in 1907 which resulted in the deaths of half of the Mohawk ironworkers at the time, the Mohawk women urged them to seek work at various locations to prevent more Mohawk deaths at a single site. Many of these ironworkers helped build the skyline of New York City and worked on iconic sites such as the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building.
The men would usually live in New York City during the workweek, drive 8-10 hours back to their reserve after their shifts on Fridays, spend the weekend with their families, and then drive back to the city on Sunday nights for their Monday shifts. Today, not many Mohawk ironworkers make this journey anymore and the tradition has waned.
The process of weaving around a mold was interpreted in both materiality and form. Burlap and metal mesh, representing the wood and steel from basket making and ironworking respectively, were used as the frames to weave metallic ribbon and white cotton twine through. The ribbon represented steel and was woven through the burlap, while the twine represented the black ash splints and was woven through the metal mesh. Through this, the laborious traditions from both the Mohawk men and women to help provide for their families are woven together.
INTERSECTING Secondary Space PARALLEL Circulation FLARED Gathering Space
The form in plan is inspired by the motion of weaving around a mold and then slowly abstracting it to allow for circulation and defining program boundaries. In the diagrams above, the green represents the burlap frame with metallic ribbon weaving and the beige represents the metal frame with twine weaving throughout.
