A new T4 configuration for a deployable tensegrity pavilion

The present tensegrity pavilion project is developed within a collaboration between University of Bergamo and the Italian company Tensoforma, with students working as interns during the realization of the structure. This tensegrity pavilion explores the competition between form and balance of forces. The aim of this work is to design, manufacture, and assembly a self-stressed tensegrity structure composed by four bars and twelve cables. By using a hydraulic jack to pull a lower cable, a self-stress state is established in the whole system, simultaneously erecting the structure. An outer structural membrane contributes to the global balance of the system. The pavilion is constrained to ground by simple supports and pinned connections, without transferring prestressing forces. This pavilion can be considered a generalized tensegrity system, with its membrane being connected at the end of its structural elements. The peculiarities of this system are introduced and analyzed here as a starting point in the design of more complex structures.