A rocking good time

The Wover, a gigantic woven rocker, was a favorite exhibit at the 2014 Seattle Design Festival in October. Created and installed by a team of volunteers, it was designed with two guiding principles in mind. The first, fittingly, was the theme of the festival, Design in Motion. The second was to juxtapose architectural tectonics with textile production methods.

Intended to be displayed during the festival only, the Wover was built to be assembled and disassembled easily. Measuring 15 feet long by 7 feet high, the rocker was assembled by hand using nine exposed plywood ribs, individually laminated and CNC milled specifically to suspend fabric webbing. The ribs were held together by multiple threaded rods, wrapped in polypropylene webbing that had been sewn into strips that were then woven together by hand to create the interior of the rocker. The final geometry was designed for ultimate rocking ability and comfort. Public safety was also a factor in the design, helping define the rhythm of the ribs and the density of the webbing so there were no gaps to trap small fingers and toes. The webbing was supplied by Tarboo Inc., a Seattle clothing designer. Hoffman Construction, also of Seattle, was the contractor.