Photo: Anna Civelleri

Language: English

How can digital technology support craft without removing the maker from the process? In this lecture, Aslı Aydın Aksan presents the role of digital technology in crafts drawing on Hacking the Machines, the Amsterdam pilot of the Horizon Europe project Tracks4Crafts, developed at TextileLab Amsterdam, Waag Futurelab.

Through experiments with textile printing, natural dyes and interactive machine control, the project explores how digital tools, haptic systems and open-source machine protocols can support access, responsive dialog, immediacy and scale while keeping the craftsperson’s intuition, agency and intervention at the centre.

Aslı Aydın Aksan is an architect, researcher, and educator at Waag Futurelab. Her work explores the intersections of computational design, digital fabrication, craft, and design education through critical making and experimentation. Waag Futurelab is a research institute for technology and society that works toward an open, fair, and inclusive future. Its TextileLab Amsterdam investigates sustainable and regenerative practices for the textile and clothing industry at the intersection of craft, biology, and emerging technologies.

Photo: Anna Trap