Drop the solid "boxes".

[jhwegener]

The foolowing is more play witt imagination.
Let us imagine something totally different from anything human made in space a the moment. Instead of massive, solid "boxes", then completely "fragile" structures. One possibility: a structure based on "threads" connected in some pattern. Could such an imagined strucure be viable or would it instantly break appart, disintegrate or deform?
(hardly because of gravity or heavy winds or weather?) If hit by particles of any kind perhaps the damage would be limited to one "thread" or connecting point between "threads"? The most similar thing would perhaps be webs - spiders or silk or other organic.
To go even further, imagine it being able to self-repair or even self-construct.

[slang]

What would the purpose be of such a structure? Its viability depends on the intended use.

[jhwegener]

What would the purpose be of such a structure? Its viability depends on the intended use.

Perhaps I should have been more clear it is more a "thought experiment" than anything else, so it is not anything I "believe" in. But I will add a question: As far as I see a solid thing as we know it - rocket, sattelite etcetera -is rather vulnerable to collision with high speed objects.
Will the same be the case for a structure like the one that I imagined, or could the damage be more limited? The imagined use could be many, except perhaps for near encounters or landing. (again it is more thought as an imaginary thing as in science fiction than "real")

[cjameshuff]

Not sure what you're after, but some things that might be of interest:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoytether
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere#Dyson_swarm
http://burtleburtle.net/bob/scifi/dyson.html