The autostressed dome or the triumph of levitation

Abstract

Tensigrities are structures composed of only a few compressed members while the rst of them are tendons highly prestressed. They have great architectural possibilites that have been scarcetly used till recent years when they have been generalized to solve large span covers. Autostressed domes have demostrated its optimum utility because of its lightness and also because its global stress state in tension forbids buckling and instability, and its easy process of construction. These advantages are ilustrated by means of some examples.