Gernot Riether

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Tensegrity Structures: What They Are and What They Can Be

Through his extensive research, inventions and structural experiments, Buckminster Fuller created the term tensegrity to describe "self-tensioning structures composed of rigid structures and cables, with forces of traction and compression, which form an integrated whole" [1]. In other words, tensegrity is the property demonstrated by a system that employs cables (traction) and rigidity of other elements (usually steel, wood or bamboo) capable of acting under the intrinsic stresses (traction and compression) together and simultaneously, giving greater resistance and formal stability. It creates an interconnected structure that works biologically like muscles and bones, where one element strengthens the other.

Students of Ball State Construct Parametric Tensegrity Structure for Local Art Fair

Students of Ball State Construct Parametric Tensegrity Structure for Local Art Fair - Temporary Installations, Garden
© Gernot Riether

A group of architecture students from Ball State University, together with professors Gernot Riether and Andrew Wit, have transformed a post-industrial landscape in Muncie, Indiana, into a new destination for the city’s local art fair with the construction of the Underwood Pavilion. The parametric tensegrity structure, made from 56 lightweight, self-shading modules of Elastan fabric, provides visitors with refuge from the sun and framed views of the surrounding landscape.

More about the structure, after the break.