ABSTRACT
Nets are made from elements, or more specifically cables, that do not resist bending but can accept tensile forces. Nets are for that reason flexible mesh structures that are under tensile stresses. In architectural applications nets are frequently articulated as double-curved square meshes defined by geometric constraints. ‘Net structures’ take a significant role in the bearing of stresses (Bach et al. 1975). Nets belong, in the classification of Heino Engel, to form-active tension systems. Engel elaborated these systems as follows:
The structure of form active systems in the ideal case coincides precisely with the flow of stresses … any change of loading or support conditions changes the form of the funicular curve and causes a new structure form.
(Engel 1999: 58)