Day 6: (Thu Jan 29, Week 3) Tensegrity Structure Workshop

Notes for 2026-01-29.

Agenda

  1. Discuss results from Exercise: Social Medium (Exercise 3 Shared Folder)

  2. Introduce a few basic tensegrity forms and discuss the balance of forces.

  3. Individual experiments:

    1. try a flat form using sticks and rubber bands

    2. please take photos and post images to Exercise 4 Shared Folder (please name files using your name)

    3. try the ‘single-layer’ 3D form using sticks and rubber bands

    4. try the ‘single-layer’ 3D form using sticks and monofilament

  4. In small groups, please try one or more of the following:

    1. a two-layer form (stacked single-layer units)

    2. a tower or beam (multiple units)

    3. one of the ‘mast’ units (e.g. Pugh Figure 16 or 18)

    4. a larger scale form using the poles and elastic.

  5. Please return cut sticks to the bin.

  6. Please return extra rubber bands to correct pile by size.

References

Some related work pages: Tensegrity Structures, Virginia Melnyk Designs.

An excellent visual guide to Kenneth Snelson’s tensegrity sculptures [R11] is available via the artist’s web site:

The figures below are from [R9] A. Pugh, An introduction to tensegrity, Reprint 2020. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2020. Originally published 1976.

The full book is available in chapters here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1uRu9X5ON_IF-8iOYt5C9PrOq59yGicyu?usp=sharing

Selected figures are excerpted here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Aib5olvb1qERYy6IrtCcGD3QcEU6toa6?usp=sharing

../_images/2.1%20Figure%201.png ../_images/2.16%20Figure%2024%20and%2025.png ../_images/2.17.png

Creating a larger tensegrity form using the bamboo poles and cord will require tying knots around the pole which do not slip. The following guides may help: