Textiles · Computation · Material Tuning · Storytelling
Her work explores architecture, textiles, computation, and material programmability, weaving together myth and science to cultivate situated, ecological ways of making.
Nikoletta Karastathi
Nikoletta Karastathi is an architect, researcher, and lecturer whose work explores textiles as architectural systems through material experimentation, computational fabrication, and ecological making. Positioned between architecture, craft, and artistic research, her practice investigates how textile logics can inform new forms of spatial, tactile, and material thinking.
Alongside nearly a decade of architectural practice in the UK, Nikoletta has taught architecture and design across multiple institutions and is currently Lecturer in Design for Manufacture at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, where she is also completing a PhD funded by the London Arts and Humanities Partnership (LAHP). Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at Ars Electronica, Milan Design Week, Dutch Design Week, and the Biennale in Artistic Research in Architecture, Aarhus.
Exhibitions
Designing for the Senses. Exhibited at MaterialDriven Exhibition, Architect@Work, London, United Kingdom, 2018.
4D Knitting. Exhibited at Here East, UCL, London, United Kingdom, 2018.
4D Knitting. Exhibited at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle, United Kingdom, 2018.
4D Knitting. Exhibited at London Design Festival, Open Cell, London, United Kingdom, 2018.
Good Bugs_bad Bugs. Exhibited at London AHRC Design Display, Old Truman Brewery, London Design Festival, London, United Kingdom, 2016–2017.
Bacteriochromic. Exhibited at Living with Adaptive Architecture, Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham, United Kingdom, 2015–2016.
Architectural diagrams, models, and drawings. Exhibited at Northern Design Festival, Newcastle, United Kingdom, 2015–2016.
Drawings. Published/exhibited in Architectural Review Folio and Architectural Journal Sketchbook, 2015–2016.
Woven Echoes. Exhibited at Works+Words: Biennale in Artistic Research in Architecture, Aarhus, Denmark, 2026.
Rhythmic Threads: An Interplay between Sound, Pattern, and Temporality. Performed at Perform Your PhD, The Bartlett, London, United Kingdom, May 2024.
Tactile Narratives. Exhibited at Ars Electronica: HOPE, Linz, Austria, 2024.
Echoing Memories. Exhibited at Is One Life Enough?, In Design Milan Week, Milan, Italy, 2024.
PhD Conference and Exhibition. Exhibited at The Bartlett
‘ of Architecture, London, United Kingdom, 2023.
Reagen Yarn. Exhibited at London Festival of Architecture, London, United Kingdom, 2023.
Weaving with Pixels. Exhibited at Athens Open Art, Art Number 23 Gallery, Athens, Greece, 2021.
Knitted Anamnesis. Exhibited at Design Dutch Week and Latomeio, Leonidio, Greece, 2020.
Bio-Plexis. Exhibited at Design Dutch Week, Eindhoven, Netherlands, 2019.
Plexis, Antibiotic Resistance Awareness. Exhibited at London Design Festival, Open Cell, London, United Kingdom, 2019.
Publications
Karastathi, N.Woven Echoes: Myth, Landscape, and Architecture as Listening. Aarhus School of Architecture, n.d.
Karastathi, N., & Gonzalez-Lafita Perez, A. “Rethinking Exhibition Mounts: Bio-Based Prototypes for Low-Carbon Display.” Exhibition, vol. 45, no. 1, 2026.
Karastathi, N. “Tuning as Method: Materials, Fabrication, and Situated Making.” In Design for a Climate Responsive Future, edited by S. Boccaletti and Y. Adilenidou, 169–179. University of Westminster, 2025.
Sharabi, H., Olesti, G. P., Spong, B., & Karastathi, N. “Robotically Carved Adaptive Moulds for Rammed Earth Construction: Adaptability for Site-Specific Design.” In Proceedings of eCAADe, vol. 1, 525–534, 2025.
Karastathi, N., Regunathan, S., Doria, D., Walpole, W., & Colletti, M. “Bridging Pixels and Fabrication: Enhancing Accessibility in CNC Knitting for Architectural Design.” In ACADIA 2024: Designing Change. University of Calgary, 2025.
Karastathi, N. “Re-Coding and Multiplying: Ancient Textile Practices through Neo-Baroque Folding.” In Postdigital Neobaroque Architecture, Vol. 3: Traits of Post-Digital Neobaroque. Rome: D Editore, 2024.
Karastathi, N. “Textile Narratives: Rhythmic Tactile Architectures.” In ACADIA 2024 Proceedings, Denver, Colorado, 2024.
Fernandez González, A., & Karastathi, N. “Threading Cellular Architecture Geometries.” In Phygital Intelligence: Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Computational Design and Robotic Fabrication (CDRF 2023). Springer Nature, 2024.
Karastathi, N., Salmane, A. K., & Parker, B. “pH-Responsive Textile with Anthocyanin-Laden Hydrogel Yarns: A Colorimetric and Feasibility Study.” Research Directions: Biotechnology Design 2, 2024.
Thakker, D., Hadavi, R., Raj, N., Vijayappan, V., Gupta, H., Meng, J., et al. “Developing Feedback-Based Robotic Manufacturing Method for Earth-Based Materials.” In Proceedings of eCAADe, vol. 1, 479–488, 2023.
Karastathi, N. “Sympoietic Pleksis: Theoretical and Practical Approaches from Textiles to Architecture.” In Divergence in Architectural Research: ConCave PhD Symposium 2022. Georgia Institute of Technology School of Architecture, 2023.
Abolnaga, O., Farhani, D., Felber, C., Fellows, T., Garland, N., Karastathi, N., et al.PhD Research Projects 2023. Edited by S. Giamarelos and A. Zacharopoulou. London: The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, 2023.
Nabil, S., Kučera, J., Karastathi, N., Kirk, D. S., & Wright, P. “Seamless Seams: Crafting Techniques for Embedding Fabrics with Interactive Actuation.” In DIS ’19: Proceedings of the ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference, 987–999, 2019.