Abstract
Tensegrity systems are lightweight reticulate space structures. A selfstress state is necessary to their stability and rigidity and has to be controlled in service. We present in this work experimental and numerical studies which has shed light on a number of hitherto unexplored points concerning the identification of the selfstress state. We have thereby increased our understanding of the functioning of the Tensarch® project tensegrity grid, including the control under natural loading. The aim of these studies is to exploit tensegrity systems in civil engineering.