The term tensegrity was coined by the famous architect Buckminster Fuller – it is a contraction of the phrase “tensional integrity”. Fuller defined tensegrity structures as “self-tensioning structures composed of rigid structures and cables, with forces of traction and compression, which form an integrated whole”. The result is an interconnected structure in which one element strengthens the other – it often gives the illusion of being gravity-defying.
One of the first large-scale tensegrity structures in the UK was the “Skylon” built on London’s South Bank for the Great Exhibition of 1951.
1951 South Bank Exhibition. Taken from The Victoria Embankment and shows the Skylon and Dome of Discovery.
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Attribution: Peter Benton
I have built a scale model of this – shown below. All of these models are built from wood and thread only.
Examples of other tensegrity structures I’ve built are shown below
And a giant one in the garden
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