Tomato Textile

The Bartlett, UCL / Bio-design M. Arch. / Concept Design / London, UK / 2020

In collaboration with material scientist and biodesigner Ebyan Rezgui

Transforming agricultural waste into resource

through material innovation and bio-design.

Tomato Textile is a modular and decentralized method of growing Tomatoes in hot-arid environments by combining vernacular architectural techniques with novel and sustainable agricultural solutions

In addition, the project aims to bring communities together by creating intersections of various cultural practices such as textile weaving with low-tech vernacular building practices like rammed earth and reed construction. The use of on-site tomato agricultural waste in creating a decaying hydrogel material that facilitates growth was essential.

Tunisia has the highest tomato consumption in the world with 70kg/year/person. With lessening arable lands in the north, the existing arable soil is vulnerable to degradation which will heavily impact the agriculture economy, in which 16% of the population is employed in. Nabeul, sited in the north is the highest tomato production region in the country accounting for 36% of national production.

This structure is multi-functional throughout the year and changes according to the environmental conditions. During the hot summer days, from May to October, tomato growing and harvesting takes place with little rainfall, 0 to 25mm and the basin designed on the left is used for temporary tomato storage before manufacturing. The hydrogel on the reed frame during these months will decay at a much slower pace and provide shading for the tomatoes and protection against extreme sun. The translucency on the hydrogel will change over time as water evaporates from the hydrogel.

During the colder months from November to April, the soil will be replenished and fertilized where 400 to 500mm of rainwater per month is expected. The basin on the right will be used for on-site hydrogel production, and rainwater will be directed by the hydrogel panels on the wings and collected and distributed through the central element. A grate will be placed to filter out heavy chunks of hydrogel that may fall off the panels. With heavy rainfall comes a faster pace of decay for the hydrogel, which will allow more distribution of nutrients.

The structure can modularly scale up based on the size of agricultural field, becoming a new typology of a greenhouse

Textile Prototyping

Experiments were carried out to understand behavioral characteristics of the hydrogel material being designed. The experiments were setup on bamboo frame to test stability and colour changes over time. In this test, pectin powder was used as the binding agent to create the hydrogel, in addition to glycerin and water. Over 96 hours, the material became slightly more translucent, but more importantly, it showed promising stability characteristics in holding the bamboo frame shape.

In this test, konjac powder was used as the binding agent to create the hydrogel, in addition to tomato powder, calcium hydroxide and water. Over 96 hours, the colour of the hydrogel darkened and the material became more stiff with time. Adhesion between the frame and the hydrogel became a critical point and failed at 96 hours. In addition, as the hydrogel dried, significant mass loss was observed with high internal stresses and an increase in translucency as the thickness decreased.

Based on the previous experiments, this experiment was carried out using tomato powder, pectin powder, glycerin and water. The use of pectin powder was preferred over konjac powder as the binding agent since it resulted in more stable results. In addition, pectin powder is imagined to be derived from the tomato waste directly, as a way of creating the hydrogel on site by using the waste of the tomatoes. Over a span of 96 hours, the sample was able to hold its shape successfully while providing the desired material characteristic results including stiffening of the material with time as well as and decrease in mass and an increase in material translucency. This experiment was carried out with a tomato hydrogel, bamboo frame and a cotton sheet.