Saturday, October 18, 2008

Making Curved Tiles

Making curved Knitlock is the next challenge I have been set. Curved Knitlock was specified by Walter Griffin for the vault roof of Knitlock water tanks. My friend Bryan Glover insists that these curved Knitlock tiles used vertically will provide a unique walling system for designers.

Sorting through Knitlock Images

I was resorting my Knitlock images (as you do) into photo libraries and I had another look at a scan from a bad image photocopy of a journal article on Knitlock. It was the only photo I have seen yet of a Knitlock mould. I heard the penny drop. I think the last obstacle to production has evaporated. Griffin created with such simplicity and elegance. 

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Its Own Momentum


Walter Griffin created design systems for cities, towns, suburbs, gardens, parks, houses, lamps, cutlery.

Griffin Constructs is a business that merchandises these design systems.

Knitlock Construction is a business that merchandises one specific Griffin design system.

Griffin branded it Knitlock.

Knitlock, patented in 1917, was designed to gracefully, quickly and affordably build Australia’s capital, Canberra.

Knitlock requires no skill to use, is cheap to manufacture and offers any builder a flexible range of structure with just six specifications. Just six. Eight if you want roof tiles.

Two different length load bearing panels,
a fill wall tile panel
a roof tile panel complete the Knitlock suite.

The Knitlock building system supplies the inner and outer wall
structure, it can be laid by unskilled labour on any properly
footed base.

A prototype core house of twenty one feet square, built on earth footings in 1917 remains the hearth of the house grown around it.

Knitlock is sixty percent of the material cost compared to brick veneer as a buiding material and twenty five percent of the labour cost.

Knitlock has potential as emergency housing it is easy to transport and easy to make onsite where appropriate

All I need to do is make some. Prototype moulds are being costed now.

Someone who's Flickr pictures of the Capitol interested me, happened to be from RRR's architecture show.

This week they had Jeff Turnbull discussing Griffin. My name was mentioned in connection with Knitlock.

So my cat is out of the bag!