BeTA Pavilion
[Biotensegrity Textile Assemblies]

BeTA Pavilion explores the formal opportunities of biotensegrity logics using elastically bent glass fiber reinforced plastic rods and CNC kitted textiles. Its bending-active system (inspired by vertebrae typologies) is comprised of pre-stressed and self-stabilized tetrahedron modules that are arrayed to produce structural equilibrium with a bandwidth of dynamic motion.

Biotensegrity principles introduce an adaptive, ‘living’ structural model characterized by networks of interconnected components and tendons with a shape adaptive capacity. Bending-active is an approach to form-force equilibria that adopts actively curving beams and surfaces within their elastic ranges. 

The pavilion’s hyperbolic paraboloid geometry was parametrically derived using a Grasshopper/Kangaroo 2® interface, and developed based on a scaled, sequential array of 45 regular, bent rod tetrahedron modules to enhance its structural performance. Akin to the performance of semi-rigid bodies of the human spine, the tetrahedrons were paired with CNC knit textile surfaces and knit pre-tensioned (tendon-like) connectors, to produce a passively stable structural system. 

Project Team
Diane Davis-Sikora, Kent State University | CAED
Rui Liu, PhD, Associate Professor, Kent State University | CAED
Linda Ohrn-McDaniel, Professor, Kent State University | School of Fashion
Haley DeRose, Graduate Student, Kent State University | CAED
Fred Wolfe, Graduate Student, Kent State University | CAED
Maame Amoah, Graduate Student, Kent State University | The Fashion School 

Project Installation: Form&Force EXPO | 2019 IASS Symposium and Structural Membranes Symposium, Barcelona, Spain