space-frame

In architecture, a lightweight, triangulated, structural framework, designed to be of uniform load resistance and used principally in large-span constructions, such as exhibition halls, stadia, and aircraft hangars. The Eiffel Tower, Paris, 1889, is a space-frame of riveted steel beams. A contemporary development is Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome, a shell-like space-frame covered in plastic, plywood, or metal sheeting.

The first iron bridge at Coalbrookdale, England 1779, showed the span capacity of triangulated structures, which were further developed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in the 19th century. Alexander Graham Bell invented space-frames assembled from tetrahedral frames 1903–07, designing and constructing a tower 23 m/75 ft in height but weighing only 4.6 tonnes/5 tons. Fuller's geodesic dome of the 1950s was composed of polygonal frames. Space-frame construction is being explored for use in space stations and space telescopes, because of its lightness and ease of assembly.