If you want to build a different kind of structure, and you plan on using a space frame to do it, then Gary Curtis at Gossamer Space Frames is probably the person you should talk to. A Multiframe user since 1996, Gary has used Multiframe 4D, Section Maker and Steel Designer to design a range of innovative structures. He is now a part of Gossamer Space Frames, a company established to develop the use of a unique joint for applications in space frame structures. This patented joint provides a rigid connection for circular tube framing members composed of any material that can be machined.

One recent example of Gossamer's work is the design of the "Roller Coaster Bridge", a part of the Queen's Way Bay Project in Long Beach, California. Although not a real roller coaster, the pedestrian bridge sports a roller coaster like structure towering above the walkway. The structure might be considered a double layer grid; the Gossamer joint framed triangular grid trusses supporting the bridge deck are composed of two in-plane grids connected with an out-of-plane bracing system. For this application the joint is being machined from aluminum plate.

The overall structure was created and then analyzed using Multiframe. Individual joints were then physically tested for tension, compression and bending forces to verify design strength capacities. Because of the rigidity of this connection, it is possible to develop single layer thin shell structures of any shape where conventional space frame joints lack rigidity and require double layer grid systems. "Any shape" means literally any shape conceivable, from spherical to hyperbolic, 3D sine waves, complex, or random compound curve surfaces.

Gary has extensive experience in creative structural design. Some of the more interesting projects he has worked on include the Space Needle for the Seattle Worlds Fair, analysis of the South Pole Station Geodesic Dome, Spruce the Goose Dome, and the design of many steel, concrete and wood frame structures. An enthusiastic Macintosh user, Gary uses Multiframe because of the ease and speed for graphically creating complex structures. This allows him to explore many different geometrical configurations for his structures. He uses Multiframe in conjunction with a range of other programs including Excel and VectorWorks Architect while exporting DXF files to other consultants for further analysis as well as machining and fabrication CNC processes.