ABSTRACT
When students, designers, and architects think of stretched materials in space-making, the most basic typology that emerges is the tent. It is one of the earliest primitive structures used for weather protection and domestic enclosures. The stretched material has no rigidity until it is held in tension. At the component scale, stiff materials like metals and glass can also be stretched and deformed to create three-dimensional panels. Precise cuts and patterns for the material minimize wrinkles in the stretched assembly. As with most building components, stretched materials come in limited dimensions, so students, designers, and architects weld or sew together membranes to create larger components. Most stretched materials at the building scale take advantage of translucency and light transmitting characteristics of the membrane. Stretched structures are commonly used for temporary open-air pavilions at expositions to test the flexible material’s potential. The development and evolution of tensile structures transform stretched materials into airtight and watertight assemblies.
