This is a practicing design firm whose work seeks to advance Frei Otto's research into tensile membrane structures. Their site features a wide range of experimental projects. 

This first image shows an interior view of the cable net structure used in the Munich Olympia Stadium, built in 1972. Cable nets are surface structures composed of netting fabricated from cables. They differ slightly from fabric structures in that the tension is in the membrane itself. 

From the ICD/ITKE:

"In collaboration with the biologists, the fibre orientation, fibre arrangement and associated layer thickness and stiffness gradients in the exoskeleton of the lobster were carefully investigated. The high efficiency and functional variation of the cuticle is due to a specific combination of exoskeletal form, fibre orientation and matrix. These principles were applied to the design of a robotically fabricated shell structure based on a fibre composite system in which the resin-saturated glass and carbon fibres were continuously laid by a robot, resulting in a compounded structure with custom fibre orientation."

You can read more about the project on the University of Stuttgart's website here

The purpose of the Study Pod is to create a small study space in the library. This project aims to make the library a more study-intensive area when it is filled with people.

Inspiration for this project was taken from the google sleep pods. These pods are meant for sleeping, yet still offer a secluded, quiet place. The downside to the google pods is their heavyset chair bases which make them immovable. By suspending the pod from the ceiling,  a much more comfortable, swinging effect is created. The pod is also made to adequately fit one large person or two medium-sized people inside. 

The original model was made to represent a pod that is 4’x6’, but after building a few smaller-scale models, we decided it would be better to increase the height of the pod? Explain why models were structured with stretched cloth and rubber bands. 

After creating two cardboard prototypes, we decided to change multiple parts of the study pod’s overall design. While our original models adequately represented what we wanted the full-scale pods to look like, they lacked material quality. The crude models were made of stretched cloth, rubber bands, string, and cardboard cut by hand. After gluing the felt to the thick rubber bands we use as support rods, the project got messy quickly, and we had a hard time measuring the proper amount of felt to wrap around the pod walls. These early models represented the pod we had in mind, but the materials were too low quality. In addition to stepping up the overall quality, we wanted to add more detail to the project as well. 

We wanted to make sure the model had functional features that we intended to add to the final product. This included an entryway that could also serve as a dimmer or window to control light.   The next step was to laser cut a 4’x6.5’ prototype. Two support rings, one on the bottom and a smaller one for the top, were made in a design software called Rhino. Laser cutting them allowed them to fit perfectly. After assembling the barrel-type structure, five holes were drilled through each arm of the pod. We then lined those holes with string and stretched our fabric throughout the strings. The front entryway was left open to create a door.  Our next plans to make a door that will allow the user to choose how much room is able to be seen, and how much of the pod is private. We plan on doing this using a drawstring mechanism similar to a house curtain.