History and Development of Fabric Structures - Tensile Fabric Structures: Design, Analysis, and Construction - page 7

roof, believed to be the first cable net designed using a computer. The analysis was
done by Professors Klaus Linkwitz and John Argyris of the University of Stuttgart.)
Figure 1-6
German Pavilion, EXPO '67, Montreal, Canada, 1967
(Photograph by the author)
Frei Otto was also a consultant with Gotbrud on the King Abdul Aziz University
Sports Hall, engineered by the British firm Buro Happold in 1979. There is little
doubt that Otto had considerable influence as a pioneer in the development of tensile
structures.
1.4 Tensioned Fabric Structures
The modern tensioned fabric era began with a small bandstand designed and built in
1955 by Frei Otto for the federal Garden Exhibition in Kassel, Germany. He built
several more complicated canopies for various exhibitions, including the entrance
pavilion and a dance pavilion at the Cologne Federal Garden Exhibition in 1958.
Because he lacked a fabric of sufficient strength, these canopies were limited in span
to about 25 meters or fewer.
With the advent of PTFE-coated fiberglass, architect John Shaver of Salina, Kansas
was able to convince the president of LaVerne College in California to construct the
new Student Activities Center and Drama Lab using a mast-supported, tensioned-
fabric roof (Figure 1-7). Unfortunately, the translucency of the fabric could not be
used to advantage because, at that time, the local building code required an overly
conservative burn-through test, and an opaque insulating liner had to be added to the
underside of the roof in order to pass this test. Nevertheless, the "Supertents," as the
complex is called, is a favorite with the students. This landmark building reached its
37th birthday at the time of this writing, and the fabric is still in excellent shape.