Tuesday, 28 September 2010

Tensegrity: Mast Concepts

Inevitably exploration of tensegrity progresses to the building of masts or towers. The most common structural unit for building a mast is the T-Prism or 3-Prism.

I have looked at 2 variations of the T-Prism with one having both the base and the top triangular sections formed from the same equal length tension ties and the second with the base tension ties longer than the top tension ties, essentially forming a slightly pyramidal form.

even prism uneven prism

In a tiered mast arrangement the slight variations in form become quite apparent with my preference favouring the second form.

even mast1

uneven mast 1

In each case (above) the second tier is an inverted copy of the base form.

Finally, it is the inspiration from one of Kens fine works that has helped me decide on how I will proceed with the mast, technically not a mast but a 2 tier arrangement.

29-09-2010 20-47-48

30-09-2010 00-28-03 

The inspiration is from Kenneth Snelsons; Osaka, 1970 stainless steel 32 x 16 x 16 feet Japan Iron & steel Federation, Kobe, Japan.

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