Re: spectacular and serene

[Charles J Knight <c dot knight at juno dot com>]

> ...thanks for the pointers, Chuck, some of them are truly beautiful
> but that airport in Saudia Arabis = UGLY!

Gossamer is the word I would use to describe the best ones, but
I agree that the exterior view of the Haj terminal is hideous.  Inside,
however, I think the interplay of curves is actually kind of pretty.

But, the best ones should be quite beautiful, whether you're
inside or out.  Just like domes...some are stunning, and some are
shockingly ugly...

So, how'd you like the "Tennessee Pavillion?"  It's my favorite.

> ...althought i have not digested all about tensioned-structures,

You won't...it's a "new" field, and there are advancements being
made almost every day.

> my initial thoughts are 1) they seem too susceptible to the tornados 
> we 
> have here in south-central Texas and 2) they do not appear to be 
> good
> for do-it-yourselfers like me...my plan is to build several small

1)   I live in north Texas...Dallas.  The shopping mall I mentioned is
in Sherman, which is part of the big silver trophy buckle of the tornado 
belt.  They've held up fine, through many tornadoes.  They do *look* 
fragile though, don't they?

Think about it this way...the fabric functions almost exclusively in
tension.  There are threads (Kevlar springs to mind) which can
support a full grown adult, individually.  Now, weave them into a
cloth, and "spread" the load a bit.  Imagine the forces needed
before you could break even a single thread, much less rip that
cloth.

Even common cotton cloth is enormously strong in tension.

2)  Geodesics were complex and difficult to calculate before "chord
length" charts came out.  And, as for size, they can be almost any
size you want...from tiny shade structures (my first rigid hyperbolic 
paraboloid was the size of a doghouse) to the mile wide Millennial
Dome in London.

Anyway, small structures should be easy for the DIY to create and
erect...huge ones, of course, would require more equipment.  And,
a ready market for "preengineered" small structures could easily be
established.  Imagine going and buying a fabric gazebo, or even a
fabric garage...putting it in your trunk and driving away from Home
Depot.

> (less than 20" dia.) single-story domes both because they separate
> and optimize different functional needs AND because i can build 
> small
> dome myself from commonly-available materials...

I'm trying to do the same thing, but from fabric...it's such an
interesting
way to build, but patterning has to be very precise.  (like domes don't
require precision and math...)  Unfortunately, noone that I'm aware of
has published a book called "tensile math and how to use it," as Hugh
Kenner did for geodesics.

> ...again, thanks, i'm learning a lot about structures now...

That's what this list is for!  Have fun.

      -- Chuck Knight
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