Tensegrity (II) – Advantages of a New Concept

As I wrote in the previous article, tensegrity is an architectural principle put forth by Buckminster Fuller in the 1960s. I have to admit, that I am neither an architect nor a physiotherapist. I am just interested in the concept as a business leader. 

Most of our houses and other man-made structures are held together by gravitational compression. ... Their integrity lies with the continuity of compression from the highest brick in the Empire State Building to the lowest block of granite. ... The compression runs in an unbroken line from element to element all the way to the ground

Tom Myers, www.anatomytrains.com.

Lighthouses and buildings are examples of such solid construction. To build these structures, bricks are piled up on top of each other, which are fixed on a solid ground. These are continuous compression structures all the way down from the top to the ground.

To make a stable structure, more amount of materials and stronger constituents were used. The heavier it is, the more stable the building becomes. Conversely if the building is too heavy, it could collapse due to its weight. Also, if the structure is too big or too tall, it takes too much amount of materials and too much time to complete.

In contrast, a structure featuring tensegrity supports loads through compression bars placed between a network of tensioned cables. Whenever a load is applied at any single node of the structure, the structure adapts and deforms itself to that load.

A simple tensegrity structure includes at least two rigid elements and a flexible wire to connect them. Using more rigid elements, you can create amazingly stable structures.

The more complex ones consist of many straight bars, which are connected by a flexible wire, forming a ball shape. As you can see in the video below (starting at 00:25), the ball distributes stresses into the entire structure. If you would apply load to the tensegrity ball from any direction, the ball will come back to its original shape. If you would break one of the rigid elements, the structure remains intact and adjusts its shape slightly and still try to maintain its shape. 

Some other examples includes bridges like the Kurlipa Bridge in Brisbane (see top picture) and portable towers such as the needle tower created by Kenneth Snelson. 

The human body is also a very good example of a tensegrity structure. Until some time ago, we thought of our bodies as consisting of different parts, stuck upon each other; such as the head piled on top of the thorax, the chest on top of the pelvis, and the pelvis on top of the legs, just like a figure made of LEGO blocks. 

But as every classroom skeleton you have ever seen is wired together, the bones float in a sea of soft-tissue in the actual skeleton. Thomas Myers used the concept of tensegrity to explain the structure of the human body.

These are the benefits of the tensegrity structures in architectural terms (Neenu Arjun, theconstructor.org):

• Stabilisation of the structure through tension: The structure gains stiffness when it is loaded, unlike compression structures. 
• Reliable modelling: It is straightforward to build scaled models of the actual structure.
• Deployable: A portable bridge or a power transmission tower made as a Tensegrity structure can be manufactured in the factory, stored on a truck and transported by helicopter in a small volume.
• Efficient: Tensegrity structures achieve maximum strength with small mass.
• Perform multiple functions: Tensegrity structures perform multiple functions.
• Failsafe upon breakage: If one element of the structure breaks, the whole structure is not much affected and will still function.
• Easily tunable: This benefit means, you can make small adjustments for fine tuning, for example adjustments of a damaged structure. 
• Impact distribution: If there is external stress to one part of the structure, it is distributed to the entire structure.

Tom Flemons (intension designs) summarised it very well:

One of the reasons tensegrity systems are so strong and resilient is because force propagation is distributed efficiently through multiple paths of redundancy.

In the next article, I will explain what this has to do with the organisation of the future. 

Thorsten Molitor, Executive VP Sales and Marketing, KARL STORZ