This is an unfinished research on textile tensegrity technique, developed at Basic Design I Studio of Istanbul Bilgi University. The result was not satisfactory as a design outcome, but yet an interesting educational experiment. Students explain their project as follows:

Coral reefs and corals themselves were starting points of our research. After analyzing some of the coral forms and a couple of studio sessions, we came up with experiments of using “textile tensegrity” in our designs. We got inspired by many examples of this technique; the portable basketball stadium in London, the Temporary Pavillion of Tokyo University of Science etc. During our design-build stage, we tested different materials, finally choosing flexible rubber bands and PVC pipes. By stretching rubber bands with PVC pipes, we produced a lot of potential energy, directed to hold and suspend our intended structure. We built 4 units of this system in different lengths, attached to each other by using thin cables and stretched from 4 different locations at the site.

Students: Batuhan Güllü, Onurcan Oktay, Öykü Türkan