SculthorpeStudios

Tracing Systems – Making the Vine Torus Armatures

This method documents the construction of the intial armature structure. It demonstrates how to develop strucutrally stable armatures on site within a vineyard.

Further material is required to develop the torus into a fully consolidated sculputural form.

This method has been developed during Tracing Systems with primary material preparation undertaken at Ashling Park Vineyard in West Sussex, UK.

Video Demonstration

Method Overview

The torus is constructed through continuous bending, wrapping and compression of vine lengths into a rope length, then horseshoe, then circular form.

Stability is achieved through density and tension rather than fixed joints or internal armature.

Basic Steps

  1. Select long, flexible vines
  2. Prune all dead or broken branches – leaving some hooks
  3. Prepare piles of prepared vines
  4. Work through the piles making long ropes of entwined vines
  5. Produce a rope long enough for the required circumference
  6. Hold shape through hand tension, work the vines in concert with their natural shape
  7. Allow bend in the rope to form a natural horse shoe
  8. Secure the torus/circle shape by joining the ends of the horseshoe
  9. Begin wrapping additional vines around the circle
  10. Build thickness evenly across the form
  11. Rotate the structure as you work
  12. Add shorter lengths to reinforce weak points
  13. Compress and tighten the weave
  14. Adjust shape to maintain circular consistency
  15. Continue until the structure holds independently
  16. Lift, roll and test integrity
  17. Refine as needed

Materials

  • Fresh (up to 3 months on damp ground) vine clippings greater than 40cm in length
  • Pruning saccateurs
  • Gloves

Working Conditions.

  • Approx. 3 hours: vine preparation
  • Approx. 2 hours: initial armature formation
  • Approx. 1 hour: structural consolidation

Total time per torus: ~6 hours

Requires stamina and sustained manual handling.

Project Context

System design: Dawn Sculthorpe

Location: Ashling Park Winery

Project: Tracing Systems (2026)

Method Extensions (in development)

This armature method forms part of a broader construction system currently under development:

  • Material Harvesting and Preparation
  • Armature Construction (this method)
  • Sculptural Consolidation (Phase 2)
  • Installation Systems (ground, suspended, vertical)