1. Development of textile structures

1.1 Origin

It's customary to trace the first use of stretched canvas for protection against the elements back to distant historical or even prehistoric origins.

Nomadic tents, military field buildings, leisure and reception shelters all seem to have a kinship with contemporary textile buildings. These constructions all seem to have been characterized by their non-permanence and dismantlability.

The Roman arenas provide a remarkable example in this respect, since several centuries apart, the Romans covered (figure 1 ) the arenas with a cotton veil to protect them from the sun; today, the people of Nîmes (figure...