In this special issue of the Arup Journal, we explore Arup's work with lightweight strutures, a broad, if rather inappropriate, name for a group of surface structures made from fabrics or tension or compression nets.
Articles include: Lightweight structures – an introduction by Peter Rice; A brief history of cable and membrane roofs; Air-supported structures: fire and smoke hazards; Coated fabrics for lightweight structures; Form finding, control and modification for tension structures including papal canopy, Dublin, Ireland; Form definition for the Bridge of Don exhibition and sports centre, Aberdeen, UK; Environmental considerations of lightweight structures.
