Volume 16.2 features a range of contributions that consider craft through the lens of cultural ecology and reflect on the evolution of material practices across time and place. Mari Koppanen and Antti Lindfors explore the tradition of amadou-making in Romania and the material’s recontextualization in contemporary craft and design practices. Gareth Thomas examines coppicing in Wales, demonstrating how the revival of a heritage craft can foster community (re)connection and support ecological sustainability. Yuttapong Tonpradoo, Sawit Pongvat and Supansa Suwan focus on the production of cultural commodities produced through crafting with Indigenous Ton Bai Romkao in Kapong District, Southern Thailand, framed by the challenge of integrating tradition with sustainability. The evolution of a material practice is explored in Olga Beatrice Carcassi, Mohammad Hossein Zowqi and Lola Ben-Alon’s enquiry into the integration of 3D printing with soil and plant-based fibre material recipes, which are informed by traditional basketry and bridge analogue and digital craft. Ponimin, Muhammad Faizal bin Abdul Rani and Okta Viviana Asmi Nusantari present how terracotta plant vases, which combine local cultural ideas from Indonesia and Malaysia, are incorporated into interior and exterior aesthetics. The portrait by Nizam Orcun Onal and Aysenur Ceren Asmaz features the ceramic glazes of Danish artist Christina Schou Christensen. The exhibition Soft Power: Lives Told through Textile Art held at the Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, is reviewed by Loucia Manopoulou and D Wood reviews A Short History of Black Craft in Ten Objects by Robell Awake.
Review of: A Short History of Black Craft in Ten Objects , Robell Awake (2025) New York: Chronicle Books, 144 pp., ISBN 978-1-79722-854-9, h/bk, GBP 18.99
Soft Power: Lives Told through Textile Art , Royal West of England Academy (RWA), Bristol, 17 May–10 August 2025
Natural building materials like clay soils and plant fibres are undergoing a renaissance in ecological design and architecture. Nonetheless, design creativity and fabrication using natural materials have mostly relied on manual techniques, such as cob and rammed earth, which are limited to heavy mass assemblies in rectilinear geometries with thick straight lines. Introducing digital fabrication with diverse ranges of processing parameters to natural materials can introduce novel patterns, textures, geometries and performances. This study explores the integration of 3D printing with soil- and plant-based fibre material recipes with high fibre content, culminating in digitally designed vessels inspired by traditional basketry protocols. Computational models of basket 'wall' profile typologies, from vertical to convex and concave geometries, were evaluated for their resulting printed patterns and structural stability. The texture results achieved in this work aim to challenge the digital aesthetics dominated by petroleum-based or thermoplastic pastes. Distinct printing qualities and pattern resolution were shown to be achieved for different fibre types, from wheat straw to longer hemp and banana fibres. By leveraging digi-tal tools to reimagine ancient materials and techniques, this research aims to foster a deeper connection between constructed forms and our relationship with soil and plants as essential stewardships required for environmental agency in creative and accessible design. Exhibited in several design venues, the resulting artefacts showcase novel fusions of material surface patterns, crafted through machine deposi-tion, embodying traditional inspirations in sustainable digital design
