|Digital Matter
|NETZero
A Performative Facade System Using Upcycled Fishing Nets
|Team
Aishwarya Arun, Aishwarya SR, Akshay Madapura, Luca Wenzel
|Faculty
Areti Markopoulou, David Andres Leon, Nikol Kirova
|Project year
2021-22
Circular economy encompasses challenging and rethinking the way we use and reuse resources in the building industry, and ultimately eliminate the concept of waste. The aim of NETzero is to analyze the ability and adaptability of nylon nets and arrive at suitable applications for its use as a performative facade system. Harmful ghost fishing nets, discarded at sea, are manipulated with a technique called smocking. This results in a net with more depth and density that has good shading properties.
Focused on waste reduction, the process employs the smocking technique, a cost-effective and low-energy method. It offers both manual aided by AR and robotic-industrial fabrication, adaptable to any facade geometry and grid.
Both, an AR-aided manual and a robotic-industrial fabrication method is proposed. The system can be deployed on any existing facade with any geometry. Module sizes can be changed to fit the existing facade grid. The project also includes a thorough digital exploration. Stretching and smocking behaviors of the nets are digitally simulated to allow for a change in patterns. Net density can then be manipulated to react to different radiation conditions on the facade geometry, while reducing material usage. An evolutionary algorithm is used to optimize the orientation of the modules.
Detection of damaged nets
Robotic arm movement with target planes set at the pinching points
The methodology started with a need to understand the amount of light blockage that could be achieved by layering different number of nets. Different percentage of light blockage is achieved through layering nets.
With this knowledge, the natural elastic kinematics of the fishing net was explored. the elastic properties of nylon and the geometry of the mesh and knots, a change in behavior of the mesh holes was observed on applying force at two opposite vertices of the mesh. This resulted in a reduction of the hole size and thereby, creating an opportunity to regulate the light transmittance through the nets, and to design a facade focused on shading and indoor thermal comfort.
Assembled final prototype
Assembled frames
Sectional detail
Utilizing the Wallacei evolutionary solver, our facade optimization allows module rotation to minimize radiation exposure. This innovative approach merges material and technology, representing a significant step towards upcycling and the potential development of dynamic, kinetic facade systems.
