Tensile architecture is a relatively new field of architecture devoted to lightweight membrane structures. Composed primarily of fabric tent-like structures, this form of architecture is well suited for sheltering large areas, such as stadiums, arenas, outdoor shelters, and airport terminals. Russian engineer Vladimir Shukhov was one of the first to develop practical calculations of stresses and deformations of beams, shells and membranes on elastic foundation. Shukhov designed eight truss-roofed (thin-shell structures) exhibition pavilions for the Nizhny Novgorod Fair of 1896, covering the area of 27,000 km². Since the 1960s, tensile structures have been championed by designers and engineers such as Frei Otto, the duo of Nicholas Goldsmith & Todd Dalland at FTL Design & Engineering Studio, Horst Berger, and David Geiger.

Notable Projects

• Columbus Center, Baltimore, Maryland
• Denver International Airport, Denver Colorado
• Pier6 Music Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland
• Carlos Moseley Music Pavilion, New York, NY
• Finnish Chancery, Washington, DC
• National Symphony Orchestra, Washington, DC

See also

• Vladimir Shukhov
• Frei Otto
• Tensegrity
• minimal surfaces
• Tensile structure

Further reading

• "The Nijni-Novgorod exhibition: Water tower, room under construction, springing of 91 feet span", "The Engineer", № 19.3.1897, P.292-294, London, 1897.
• Horst Berger, Light structures, structures of light: The art and engineering of tensile architecture (Birkhäuser Verlag, 1996) ISBN 376435352
• Alan Holgate, The Art of Structural Engineering: The Work of Jorg Schlaich and his Team (Books Britain, 1996) ISBN 3930698676
• Elizabeth Cooper English: “Arkhitektura i mnimosti”: The origins of Soviet avant-garde rationalist architecture in the Russian mystical-philosophical and mathematical intellectual tradition”, a dissertation in architecture, 264 p., University of Pennsylvania, 2000.
• Rainer Graefe: “Vladimir G. Šuchov 1853-1939 - Die Kunst der sparsamen Konstruktion.”, S.192, Stuttgart, DVA, 1990. ^*

External links

• TensiNet, the Communication Network for Tensile Structures in Europe
• Institute for Lightweight Structures, Stuttgart, Germany
• International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures
• Working Group for Textile Architecture
• architecture, tent roofs, and minimal surfaces
• tensile sculpture, free-form tensile artwork, shade canopies
• A company specialising in fabric architecture, contains pictures and artwork relating to tensile architecture.
• A fabric architecture company providing a guide to fabric structures and information about fabric types used.