Constructing Environments Karen Dionisio-See Week 1
Activity: Compression The objective of the activity is to construct the highest tower made of blocks. This tower should have an opening that could fit in a certain object such as the toy provided to the group. In this activity, the group has encountered various problems such as the way of making the opening section or the arch, as well as keeping the tower stable.
Foundation of the tower
The group decided to build a strong and stable tower that has a sqaure base by putting the blocks together without any gaps. We then overlapped the next layer to the previous one to ensure stability. As we continued add more layers to the tower, we started to move the blocks inwards in a gradual manner to construct the arch.
Collapsed sides
Overlapping blocks
Material used in the activity
Even if we thought that we have made a strong foundation in the beginning of the activity, the sides of the tower began to collapse. We realized that the weight of the tower was put to the center. This means that in order to avoid the tower from falling, there should be an equal distribution of weight in the inner and outer part. This has been resolved by adding more blocks to the outer sides of the tower.
Constructing Environments Karen Dionisio-See Week 1
The group then decided to continue building the tower by putting gaps in between the blocks to secure its height and strength. We learned this method through the other group’s process of constructing the tower. We realized that this method was faster and more stable than what we originally did.
This tower had gaps and had a cylindrical structure, which distributed the weight of the tower and allowed a part of it to be excavated for the construction of the arch.
Although the sides have collapsed, the corners and the back side remained strong due to the interlocking of the blocks.
The Final Product
For the final design of the tower, we were not able to close the arch, which made the tower looked similarly to a throne.
Method of putting gaps in between blocks