thomas maincent: spiderfarm

mock-up of ‘spiderfarm’ by thomas maincent images courtesy of thomas maincent

brussels-based designer thomas maincent has conceived of ‘spiderfarm’, a project which harnesses the silk-producing capabilities of nephila spiders for human use. synthesizing natural and industrial processes of production, this system is divided into four parts: energy, spider housing, factory, production.

mimicking the natural setting in which the creatures live in the wild, the first area recreates the essential aspects that allow spiders to prosper and produce viable material, including temperature, humidity and nutrition. only cannibalistic when starved of food, the insects derive nutrition primarily from flies, which are attracted by fermentation of domestic waste. the second department houses wooden stakes for spiders construct their webs on, hosting approximately 600 in each cubic meter and a total population of nearly one million.

area three focuses on the transformation of raw silk thread into a usable resource. no danger for the species, who are robust enough to endure handling, the processing in this part of the factory works with the creatures’ natural rhythms, yielding one kilogram of silk with every 100,000 spiders. the last section results in the manifestation of the spiders’ previously unrealized potential, applying harvested material to production in the automotive, apparel, and medical industries.

‘energy’ area production prototype

factory tour

‘spiderfarm’ logo