Patent ID: 8893451

Claim:
A multi-floor building, comprising: at least first and second floors, the first and second floors each including a building block that consists essentially of: a tetrahedral element that includes six bars fixed to each other at four vertexes, two of the vertexes being lower vertexes and two of the vertexes being upper vertexes disposed at a vertical location above the two lower vertexes; first and second tension members, the first tension member including a first end that is fixed to a first one of the upper vertexes and a second end, and the second tension member including a first end that is fixed to a second one of the upper vertexes and a second end, and the first and second tension members are parallel to each other and are oriented in a vertical direction; and a square floor panel that is oriented horizontally, the square floor panel is fixed to the second ends of the first and second tension members and is fixed to the two lower vertexes; wall panels, at least one of which is provided with openings, and a ceiling panel; the building block of the second floor is rotated 90 degrees about a vertical axis relative to the building block of the first floor so that the tension members of the building block of the second floor are disposed above the two lower vertexes of the building block of the first floor.