jan rose: the knitting craftsman

production of ‘urban pouf,’ a part of ‘the knitting craftsman’ collection by jan rose

for his master’s thesis at central saint martins in london, german-born jan rose has created a furniture and tool collection called ‘the knitting craftsman.’ an exploration of knitting as a manufacturing technique, this project has a craftsman’s focus on process and material qualities but is advanced with modern capacities of industry: all objects are carefully hand-knitted by rose on specially designed knitting machines he has produced. this integration of traditional dexterity with rapid prototyping technology and unexpected materials demonstrates how age-old processes can be used in wider scale of production.

‘urban pouf’

shaped like a donut, ‘urban pouf’ is an outdoor seat knitted from of high-tension stainless steel thread. this material withstands the weather and adjusts to accommodate the user, a contrast to the typically static construction of urban furniture.

‘urban pouf’ in use

‘urban pouf’ detail

‘leather lamp’

‘leather lamp,’ made out of boiled strips of cow leather, has a rigid form but a soft surface. the light plays with the different densities and patterns of the knitted structure.

‘leather lamp’ detail

making ‘leather lamp’

‘storage nets’

‘storage nets’ are soft structures knitted out of the material used for seat belts, changing shape depending on their load.

‘storage nets’ detail

making of ‘storage nets’

specially designed knitting frames

‘the knitting craftsman’ furniture and tool collection

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions’ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication.