Tensile Structures

For the first time in this edition, Frei Otto's two studies of nonrigid structures (Pneumatic Structures and Cables, Nets, and Membranes) are available in one volume. Pneumatic Structures deals for the most part with surfaces loaded by tractive forces. Special membranes, of high tensile strength, are made semi-rigid by means of differences of enclosed air or fluid pressure and can serve as roofings, halls, silos, dams, or for any other application where ease and rapidity of construction and transportation are essential. This section is illustrated with 1,660 numbered photographs and line drawings, including many striking photographs of both models and existing implements and structures. In Cables, Nets, and Membranes the subject of nonrigid architectural structures is continued with a detailed investigation of structures under tensile loads, of which suspension bridges and tents are the most commonly known examples. Like pneumatic structures, tensile structures have the advantages of mobility, light weight, ease and speed of erection, and low cost.

Text: English, German (translation)