Frei Otto | Tensile Structures: The Minimal Surface You Can Climb

A net woven from steel cables, stretched between several masts and ground anchors, forming a continuously undulating hyperbolic paraboloid—the shape is not drawn, but is the minimal surface found by tension itself. The net density is uniform, the mesh is rhombic, the cable diameter is extremely thin, and the overall structure is almost transparent, only revealing its outline when backlit. When people walk or climb on the net, it sags locally, and the force is transmitted along the cables to the entire system. The masts are tilted, and the ground anchors are exposed. The surroundings are grassy slopes and sky. Photographed at dusk with backlighting, the net forms a fine pattern of lines against the sky, with human figures suspended within it. Avoid: mesh changed to square and flat, cable diameter thickened, rigid frame added, surface shaped by molds instead of tension.

Translated from Chinese by AI.

一片由鋼索編成的網,在數根桅杆與地錨之間張開,形成連續起伏的雙曲面——形狀不是畫出來的,而是由張力自己找到的最小曲面。網的密度均勻,網格為菱形,索徑極細,整體幾乎透明,只在逆光時顯出輪廓。人在網上行走或攀爬時,網會局部下沉,力沿著索傳遞到整個系統。桅杆傾斜,地錨外露。周圍為草坡與天空。逆光的黃昏時拍攝,網在天空前形成細密的線,人影懸在其中。避免:網格改為正方且平坦、索徑加粗、加設剛性框架、曲面靠模具塑形而非張力。