Whelp, that post took my an hour already so I skipped over Frei Otto. Mostly because he's most famous for things like the 1972 Munich Olympics:
http://gizmodo.com/the-best-of-frei-otto-the-architect-who-engineered-the-1690783540
His definitive work was in two volumes, on Pneumatic and Tensile structures.
Pneumatics are of two types, air-locked as you describe and air-supported.The modern epitome of what you're thinking of would be a geodesic mountaineering tent with the fiberglass poles replaced with high pressure tubes.
​Can Inflatable Poles Make Better Tents?