Since the twentieth century, the space structure has been greatly developed all over the world. Space grid structure is a kind of space grid structure, the so-called "space structure" is relative to the "plane structure", it has the characteristics of three-dimensional action, space structure can also be regarded as the expansion and deepening of the plane structure. Since the space structure came into being, it has been welcomed by people with its highly efficient mechanical performance, novel and beautiful form and fast and convenient construction. In need of large span, large space of sports venues, convention and exhibition centers, cultural facilities, transportation hubs and even industrial plants, space structure can be seen everywhere.

After a century of continuous development of spatial structure, membrane structure, tensioned system, open and closed roof, foldable structure, etc. are all new members of spatial structure in terms of structural form, in addition to grid frame and reticular shell. At the beginning of the twentieth century, iron and steel provided the conditions for the development of the structure of the grid, followed by aluminum alloy to make the rods of the grid more lightweight. In recent years, composite materials, especially a large number of new building materials, have been developed, which exert a strong influence on the development of spatial structure. Due to the continuous improvement of steel varieties and strength, more and more sections, steel tubes, steel rods, cables and even cast steel products are used in the space structure. To a large extent, the spatial structure becomes the "spatial steel structure". With the emergence of modern computers, some new theories and analytical methods, such as finite element method, non-linear analysis, dynamic analysis, etc., have been widely used in the space structure, so that the calculation and design of the space structure is more convenient and accurate, making the space structure now kaleidoscopic, diverse. It can be said that spatial structure has become one of the most important and active fields of contemporary architectural structure.

The grid structure is generally composed of roughly the same grid or smaller sized units (duplicates). Often used in roof structures.