Tensegrity Structures and their Application to Architecture Valentín Gómez Jáuregui Tensegrity Structures and their Application to Architecture “Tandis que les physiciens en sont déjà aux espaces de plusieurs millions de dimensions, l’architecture en est à une figure topologiquement planaire et de plus, éminemment instable –le cube.” D. G. Emmerich “All structures, properly understood, from the solar system to the atom, are tensegrity structures. Universe is omnitensional integrity.” R.B. Fuller “I want to build a universe” K. Snelson School of Architecture Queen’s University Belfast Tensegrity Structures and their Application to Architecture Valentín Gómez Jáuregui Submitted to the School of Architecture, Queen’s University, Belfast, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the MSc in Architecture. Date of submission: September 2004. Tensegrity Structures and their Application to Architecture I. Acknowledgments I. Acknowledgements In the month of September of 1918, more or less 86 years ago, James Joyce wrote in a letter: “Writing in English is the most ingenious torture ever devised for sins committed in previous lives.” I really do not know what would be his opinion if English was not his mother tongue, which is my case. In writing this dissertation, I have crossed through diverse difficulties, and the idiomatic problem was just one more. When I was in trouble or when I needed something that I could not achieve by my own, I have been helped and encouraged by several people, and this is the moment to say ‘thank you’ to all of them. When writing the chapters on the applications and I was looking for detailed information related to real constructions, I was helped by Nick Jay, from Sidell Gibson Partnership Architects, Danielle Dickinson and Elspeth Wales from Buro Happold and Santiago Guerra from Arenas y Asociados. I would like to express my gratitude to Manolo García, Joaquín Sabina y Miguel Ángel Hernando, El Lichis, for their words and continuous support. I could not forget John Williams, who has been with me in every moment for so long. Everyone in this list is indebted –as I am- to some professionals as great and important as Javier Manterola, Avelino Samartín and Jörg Schlaich, who are contributing with remarkable works to the evolution and progress of engineering and, therefore, of architecture. Indeed, for me it has been an honour to be helped by them during the development of this dissertation. i Tensegrity Structures and their Application to Architecture I. Acknowledgments I wish to thank the dedication of the professors who taught me during my primary schooling and later during my specialised education as an engineer in the Universidad de Cantabria, Université de Liège and Queen’s University Belfast. It is necessary to mention Prof. Javier Torres Ruiz in particular, who opened the gates of tensegrity to me when I knocked on the door of his office, which was never closed; and to Dr. Raymond Gilfillan, for their many useful suggestions, showing me some sources that I would never have been able to achieve, for checking the manuscript patiently, and for guiding me during all these months. I cannot forget the role of Roslyn Armstong and Ailbhe Hickey, who were ready to assist me at any time; their kind intentions are acknowledged. I also gratefully thank the following for their help in answering the questionnaires. The simplest way to thank them is to produce the impressive list below: Enrique Aldecoa Sánchez del Río Mª Elena Linares Macho Roslyn Armstrong Javier Manterola Armisén Sergio Cabo Bolado Almudena Monge Peñuelas Andrew Cowser Arturo Ruiz de Villa Valdés Ghislain A. Fonder Avelino Samartín Quiroga Carolina García-Zaragoza Villa Jörg Schlaich Jose Antonio Gómez Barquín Mike Schlaich Santiago Guerra Soto Javier Torres Ruiz Celso Iglesias Pérez Su Taylor Daniel Jáuregui Gómez Chris J. K. Williams Juan José Laso de la Riva I am, in particular, grateful to three more people who have had a major influence with their fruitful contributions: Mike Schlaich, from Schlaich Bergermann und Partner, the person responsible for the design and construction of the Tower of ii Tensegrity Structures and their Application to Architecture I. Acknowledgments Rostock, who facilitated me with precious information about it, even giving me access to some of his articles still in press; Arturo Ruiz de Villa, who worked with the latter and so kindly explained to me everything about the calculations and design of this tower; and Bob Burkhardt, who has been collaborating with the computation of some of the new proposals exposed in this work and has generously shared everything he knows about tensegrity. Last but not least, I received invaluable help from Kenneth Snelson, the discoverer of the tensegrity structures. He has personally answered some of my questions and doubts about the origins of floating compression, replying to all of my endless e-mails and checking some of the chapters concerning his experience. During all my life, at the point where my own resources failed me, I had the support of my family and friends. “La murria aprieta con juerza”, as is said in my birthplace. Special thanks to Liona for helping me from her computer and sending me all the items that I required. And, especially, many thanks to my mother. For everything. I must sing with Serrat: “Si alguna vez amé, si algún día después de amar amé, fue por tu amor, Lucía”. Consequently, I must mention Julie. She has been for almost three years a very important part of my life; and for the last months, has helped me with this dissertation; she has been my left hand and, probably, some fingers of the right one. I started this acknowledgment quoting James Joyce, and, thinking of her, I finish with another cite from Araby: “My body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires.” What are tensegrity structures, but beautiful harps in space? iii Tensegrity Structures and their Application to Architecture II. Abstract II. Abstract Tensegrity is a relatively new principle (50 years old) based on the use of isolated components in compression inside a net of continuous tension, in such a way that the compressed members (usually bars or struts) do not touch each other and the prestressed tensioned members (usually cables or tendons) delineate the system spatially. The main aim of this work is to prove that it is possible to find some applications for such an atypical kind of structure, in spite of its particular flexibility and relatively high deflections. With this premise, an in-depth research has been carried out, trying to make the controversial origins clearer, as well as the polemic about the fatherhood of the discovery, the steps that followed the progress of the studies and the evolution until the present day. Some references about precedent works that have been important for the development of tensegrity structures have also been mentioned. Moreover, the continuous tension-discontinuous compression has also been shown to be a basic principle of nature; therefore, this work makes an effort to gather more information from various fields, other than Architecture, and to find out what the derivations of these phenomena are, especially in the so-called biotensegrity. In order to achieve the intended purpose, it is essential to understand the structural principles of floating compression or tensegrity, and to define the fundamental forces at play. Once this point is established, the characteristics of these structures are described, as well as their advantages and weakness when applying them to Architecture. iv Tensegrity Structures and their Application to Architecture II. Abstract Many experts have been working for the past decades on the subject. Precedent and current works founded on tensegrity are presented in this thesis, distinguishing between false and true tensegrities; the definition is crucial to accept or refuse the legitimacy of using the term. Besides, an intense research on patented works tried to find out more feasible possibilities already invented. Finally, some proposals designed by the author are shown, as an illustration of the possibilities and potentials of tensegrity structures, rather than detailed drawings proposed for a real project. When looking at the bibliography, it might be noted that this research has been based on a large number of previous publications. This is because the dissertation also has the aim of serving as a guide to future investigators who could find useful references along with the sources cited. v Tensegrity Structures and their Application to Architecture III. Table of Contents III. Table of Contents I. Acknowledgements................................................................................................i II. Abstract................................................................................................................iv III. Table of contents ................................................................................................vi IV. List of illustrations .............................................................................................ix 1. Introduction 1 1.1. What is Tensegrity?.................................................................................. 1 1.2. Why a dissertation about tensegrity structures? ....................................... 2 1.3. What are the objectives of this work? ...................................................... 3 2. Background and History 6 2.1. The origins...............................................................................................