Held together by its own stress. Now that's relatable content

The middle string is holding it together while the outer ones are balancing it. all are under some form of tension. The middle is preventing it from falling down the 3 side are preventing it from fallin left or right or any lateral direction.

For those still confused, the outer strings can't fall because the middle string can't stretch farther, and vice versa.

For anyone curious, the maker of this particular model is Kontax - they primarily make little Stirling engine models, which are excellent.

That center cable be like: "Really!!? You're not even going to mention how I'm holding all of the weight above from falling strait down!?"

Don't forget the most important part about that. All the tension is on the center one, so better. Make sure that that's one strong string.

My stools are pretty stable and I only have two legs.

I need to see a table made like this

I’m a woodworker and build tensegrity furniture like end tables and accent tables. Not only are they beautiful,they are a great conversation piece.

The middle wire holds the weight. Why do all of these explanations fail to mention that critical fact? The other wires are just for balance.

The best earthquake proof building design.

"The only thing that keeps it standing is constantly being under tension"

No matter how much I begin to understand this, it's such a mind boggling thing to see.

That would be such a good stool design for like a futuristic themed restaurant/bar

For those not understanding it. The middle wire is short, and the upper metal part hangs below it, so it can "carry" the top. Because the tension of the wires prevent it from collapsing sideways, and the middle one being to short for it falling straight down it keeps standing up.

Thanks for the explanation. Still have no clue how it works despite your description and visualizations being simple and clear so I’m just gonna say it’s magic.

It’s the same principle (sort of) as a bicycle wheel. Loads are carried by the spokes at the top of the wheel. Every other spoke is providing stability.

The middle takes the stress the rest just keeps it aligned

This is a great example of how science can seem magical to people who dont understand it

As a woodworker, I've made a few of these only full sized, and they're always a fun project, I recommend anyone looking to make something unique and useful to try making one for yourself. You can make them in countless different ways and designs. You can use wood or metal or plastic or anything you have the ability to work with for the frame construction, and for the connecting lines, you can use rope or metal cable or chains or again anything you can think of to do what's needed.