Week 1 In week one’s tutorial, we are told to use the MDFs to build a tower as tall as we can without using too much of them. This tower has to have a gate that can allow the toy dinosaur to go through.
As a beginning, we decided to use a triangular shaped base for the tower as a triangle forms truss bond, which is probably the strongest structure. After deciding how the base is like, we start building the first six layers using stretch bond to make the base stronger. The picture below shows the sketch of the structure.
When we think the base is strong and stable enough, we start using header bonds instead of stretch bonds. We made this change because the structure is already very stable. The sketch
above, we cannot use any of the above bonds as they are not strong enough. So we used about ten to fifteen MDFs and hold them together using a rubber band. The sketch below shows how many tied the MDFs together to form the top of the gate.
below shows the header bonds we used.
Above the gate, the MDFs are put in the way shown in the picture below for about five or six levels.
As we built the tower taller and taller, it is time for us close off the opening in front of the tower. In order to make the top of the gate strong enough to bear the weight of the MDFs
In this case, there will be more gravity force coming from above so that the structure will become stronger and not easy to collapse. Unfortunately, I left early in that tutorial that is why I did not have a chance to witness the complete of the tower. The sketch and the diagram below shows the progress of the tower when I left.
Melbourne’s bluestone, Dr. Margaret Groves, Landscape Architect
Week 2 In week two, we are given thin wooden sticks and told to build a tower with them. As we have built the tower using a triangle base in week one, we decided to use the same shape
After that, we repeat the same structures for three times and it is still pretty stable.
as the base of this new tower. In the first level, we made a triangle and attached three wooden sticks up straight on the three points of the triangle. A sketch and a diagram are shown
be modified in any ways, I would probably attach some more wooden sticks in each of the squares to make it even more stable. Below is a photo of the tower when it is completed.
below.
At last, we build a three level tower with a semicircle above it. We attached three wooden sticks in each of the squares to make the tower more stable. As a conclusion, I would say it was a
This task is more challenging than the last one as the wooden sticks are light and thin, not like the MDFs. We faced more difficulties throughout the task, especially as we went
success as the tower did not collapse even it was built up to two meters tall. But if it can
up.
In the e- learning materials of week two, I understood the basics of structural systems and forms, why the buildings can be build the way it is and what other factors people need to consider before they start building something.
E- learning materials