Tensile Architecture, as any other type of architecture, passes through a few different design phases.

However, these phases tend to clearly differentiate three very different tasks or states:

• Form finding
• Analysis of the structure
• Patterning and detailing

That’s why some computer programs that are used in this field of Tensile Architecture are thought for only one of these tasks. Others, such as WinTess3, serve for all three. In that sense, we find suite type programs consisting of various modules which can be purchased separately, each devoted to a task (or subtask), and others that can deal with the three tasks within the same program.

WinTess3 is a single program which runs in three different states. It is as if we have three programs in one. In fact, the program saves the file of a structure according to the state with different names.

In the top left of the window, there is a drop-down menu in which you can choose the state of the program you want to work.