Anton Alvarez: The Thread Wrapping Machine

Anton Alvarez has invented an ingenious process to join objects. The thread wrapping machine can join large and small objects in different materials and make them into something new Anton Alvarez has spent two years developing a machine that spins thousands of metres of brightly coloured thread around pieces of wood and metal to join them, producing solid benches, stools and lamps without traditional joints of any kind. The thread acts as a joining element, allowing the raw material being wrapped to be extremely elaborate without appearing so. In photos, interviews and essays, this book presents the evolution of the thread-wrapping technique, with an essay by UglyCute founder Andreas Nobel and a foreword by legendary British artist and curator Richard Wentworth. A graduate of the Royal College of Art’s Design Products MA, Alvarez originally studied fine art and cabinetmaking before completing an Interior Architecture and Furniture Design course at Konstfack, the University College of Arts, Craft and Design in Stockholm. Alvarez’s work focuses on the design of systems and the creation of tools and processes for producing products. Alvarez work has been exhibited internationally, including at MUDAC, the Design Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.