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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tensegrity Solutions Assembles Tensegrity Obelisk
SHIRLEY, MA -- Tensegrity Solutions completed assembly of a tensegrity obelisk
on June 25, 1998. It serves as a free-standing garden trellis on which
morning glories, scarlet runner beans and possibly thunbergia will be grown.
The obelisk is composed of
twelve 4-foot (1.22 m)
struts arranged in four layers using a zig-zag design.
It has triangular ends, the apex triangle having a side length
of 19.2 inches (.488 m),
the base triangle having a side length double that.
It is approximately 9 feet (2.7 m) tall.
It is dedicated to Robert W. Burkhardt, Sr.,
a distant relative of the principal of Tensegrity Solutions.
Background information on zig-zag implementations of
tensegrity technology can be found in Anthony Pugh's book
An Introduction to Tensegrity (University of California Press, 1976).
Photographs of the assembled structure can be found at
http://www.trip.net/~bobwb/ts/tenseg/obelisk/photos/index.htm.
Two Views of the Tensegrity Obelisk
An alternative diamond version of the structure was explored, and although
stiffer, the layout of the struts and tendons seemed less suited to the
trellis application.
The diamond version of the obelisk is a variation
on structures Kenneth Snelson has designed.
He calls his realizations towers.
The following are links to photos of two of those structures:
Needle Tower (Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC)
Equilateral Quivering Tower
Two Views of the Diamond Version
The data used for the assembly of the structure are at
http://www.trip.net/~bobwb/ts/tenseg/obelisk/zig-zag.htm.
Finer color renderings of the obelisk views above are available
at
http://www.trip.net/~bobwb/ts/tenseg/obelisk/color.htm.
CONTACT:
Bob Burkhardt
Tensegrity Solutions
Box 426164
Cambridge, MA 02142-0021
USA
e-mail:
bobwb@juno.com
Tensegrity Press Releases and Photos
