When we hold a sheet of paper, it cannot support its own weight and flops down . However, if we curve it, the same sheet is stiff and can actually now also hold a number of paperclips. Shells, like Toyo Ito’s Meiso no Mori canopy, act in the same way.
S. Adriaenssens, ‘Leichte Konstruktionen für weitspannende Dächer, in Atlas Tragwerke (Manual of Structural Design), 1st ed. DETAIL Engineering, 2021