Tensile Structures

For the first time in this edition, Frei Otto's two studies of nonrigid structures (Pneumatic Structuresand Cables, Nets, and Membranes)are available in one volume. Pneumatic Structuresdeals 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 Membranesthe 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.Otto, Frei is the author of 'Tensile Structures' with ISBN 9780262650052 and ISBN 0262650053.