Tensioned membrane structure
Tensegrity is a Self-stressing and self-supporting network structure composed of a group of continuous tie rods and continuous or discontinuous compression rods. The meaning of "discontinuous compression rod" is that the ends of the compression rods do not contact each other, that is, only one compression rod is connected on a joint. Tensegrity is a structural idea first proposed by R.B. Fuller, an American architect. He believes that the operation of the universe is based on the principle of tensegrity, that is, gravity is a balanced tension network, and the planets are an isolated point in the network. The cable net in this structural system is equivalent to the gravitational force in the universe, and the independently compressed rod is equivalent to the planet in the universe.
Conceptual design of tensioned membrane structures "Only buildings that correctly express structural logic have strong persuasion and expressiveness." This sentence reveals the essence of tensioned membrane structures. For the tensioned membrane structure, any additional support and modification are superfluous, and its structure itself is modelling; in other words, it is impossible to do not conform to the structure of the modelling, because the film is either floating or lack of stability. The beauty of tensioned membrane structure lies in the perfect combination of force and shape.
The basic components of tensioned membrane structures are usually membranes, cables and supporting structures (masts, arches or other rigid members). 
Membrane is a new building material, which has been recognized as the "sixth building material" after brick, stone, concrete, steel and wood. Membrane itself can not be compressed or bended, so in order to make the membrane structure work properly, it is necessary to introduce appropriate pre-tension. In addition, another important condition to ensure the normal operation of the membrane structure is to form a reciprocal surface. In order to reduce the deformation of traditional structures, it is necessary to increase the resistance of structures, while the membrane structure can distribute the load by changing its shape, so as to achieve the minimum increase of internal force. When the membrane structure is deformed near the equilibrium position, two kinds of restoring forces can be produced: one is caused by geometric deformation, the other is caused by material strain. Generally, the geometric stiffness is much larger than the elastic stiffness, so in order to make each diaphragm have a good stiffness, we should try to form a negative Gaussian surface, that is, along the diagonal direction to form "high point" and "low point". The "high point" is usually provided by masts. Perhaps for this reason, tension membrane structures are also called suspension membrane structures in some literatures.
As the elastic boundary of the membrane, the cable divides the membrane into a series of diaphragms, which reduces the free support length of the membrane and makes the surface of the film more easily form a larger curvature. It has been pointed out that the length of free support of membrane material should not exceed 15 meters, and the coverage area of single film should not exceed 500 square meters. In addition, another important role of cable is to provide additional support for mast and other supporting structures, so as to ensure that the failure of membrane will not cause the collapse of supporting structures.