A Masterpiece of Tensegrity Architecture

Speaking of “no local problems” and “no local movements”, let’s talk tensegrity. The term “tensegrity” was created by Buckminster Fuller in the 1960’s as a way to refer to “tensional integrity”, and in his case he was talking about it as it relates to an engineering principle in architecture. You may be familiar with his work with geodesic domes and his geodesic dome home. The short version is that these structures utilize distributed tension to create structures that are both lighter and stronger. If you want another good visual of this

distributed tension, the Kurilipa Bridge in Brisbane, Australia is the world’s largest tensegrity bridge (and as a tensegrity nerd I think it’s stunning).

But this engineering principle applies to life as well! Donald Ingber applied a theory of tensegrity to molecular biology (as one example, the cell’s cytoskeleton is a tensegrity model) (Ingber 1998), and Dr. Stephen Levin coined the term “biotensegrity” to apply this to biology and in particular to the musculoskeletal and fascial networks that we’re talking about here. It’s gobsmacking, but it appears that from the molecular level on up, our

body is a miracle of tensegrity architecture. We are composed of millions of geodesic structures (specifically icosahedral geodesics- Levin 1981).

Phew. Ok, why do we care? Well it (again) totally changes our framework from parts to whole. In tensegrity- in this case in regards to the human body- structures are stable and functional not because of the strength of individual pieces, but because of the way the entire structure balances and distributes mechanical stresses.

Tension is continuously transmitted through the whole structure simultaneously. Which means that an increase in tension to one piece of the structure will result in an increase in tension to other parts of the structure- even parts that are seemingly “far” away.

The fascia is the essential structure that suspends, honeycomb-like, our structure from the inside out and, if you recall from chapter 2 when we talked about how it’s all connected, fascia is the one system that tethers into every other aspect of our physiology (Langevin 2006). Which means that balanced fascia makes for a healthier and happier structure/body, whereas unbalanced fascia sends us into the domino effect of a compensatory pattern, which we will discuss in more detail in the next chapter.

If you are a visual person, take a look at pictures of the Kurilipa Bridge by doing a quick web search. This bridge is a functional bridge because all of its support cables are doing their appropriate jobs. If one of those support cables gets too short or too long, er, you probably don’t want to drive over that bridge. Its structure has been compromised.

Or, for a more familiar image of tensegrity, imagine a bicycle wheel. It is suspended from the hub (center), out via the spokes. If you clip several spokes, you’re not going to feel great about taking your bike out on that wheel.

As Dr. Rolf used to say, “Balance is strength.” Indeed.

This is taken from chapter 4 of the free PDF download, Why Fascia Matters. If you want a document of all chapters together, you can get your copy at

https://www.emeraldcityrolfing.com/