Robotic Needle Felting: Designing Nonwoven Textiles

Have a look at some of the impressions from the MasterClass workshop “Thread by Thread, Bit by Bit”, which took place at the School of Form, SWPS. In this experimental design workshop we explored how robotic needle felting can be used to design customized nonwoven textiles with locally varying properties. Needle felting bonds loose fibers by repeatedly piercing them with barbed needles, without the need for additional bonding materials. This technique allows to create varied materials by controlling their mechanical structure rather than their chemical composition.

By combining this traditional textile technique with contemporary computational tools, the workshop opened up new possibilities for sustainable, recyclable material systems with architectural and design potential. Participants learned how to program robotic movements to locally control fiber density and distribution, enabling nonwoven materials with gradually changing properties—such as transitions from soft to hard or from opaque to transparent.

It has been a wonderful week of experimentation and intercultural exchange, enriched by technical GH sessions (Agnieszka Wardzińska), informative lectures on wool (Ewa Gołębiowska) and felting (Jessica Farmer).

Thank you so much Jolanta Starzewska for the invitation to lead the workshop as well as Sara Boś and Max Tyniec for their support in the robotic lab. Big thanks to all the participants coming from four universities: School of Form (SWPS), Vilnus Academy of Art L’école de Design Nantes Atlantique and UdK Berlin: Arciuch Weronika, Kolankowska Zofia, Jeong Eunjin, Marécaille Lucie, Korol Agnieszka, Machnowska Joanna, Skerytė Miglė, Fernández Santoyo Lucía, Buchman Małgorzata, Ivashchenko Sofiia, Balčiūnaitė Gustė, Ayna Seddigh, Poprawska Zuzanna, Tarasovaitė Justina, Willemsen Esmée, Kucińska Julia, Pauliūnas Aistis, Ragelytė Austė