Costa Rica Workshop Bartlett School of Architecture in Cooperation with Universidad Veritas Unit 22 07/12/14-11/12/14 Building a Space for Retreat
Unit 22 07/12/14-11/12/14
The Bicycle Wheel as a Canopy
Aims: As a group we targeted in creating an installation that would fit into the university grounds of Costa Rica Univesidada Veritas.
4
Existing Site Problems: The site had limited space so we had to think of building something which would fit inbetween other structures and allow space for circulation. There are limited places to sit down and rest around the university grounds. Structure: Bicycle wheel which can be used as a canopy
3
2
1
Making process models to test the efficiency
Exploded Drawing Depicting the Key Components 1- Alluminium rods arranged in a tripod structure to create the legs of the whole canopy. 2- Fabric and rope used to create the hammocks which would be hooked upon the perimeter of the wheel 3-Metal screw rods ussed to make up the core and spikes of the wheel 4- Timber used to create the perimeter structure. We organised ourselves into groups-The group that constructs the bicycle core -The group that constructs the perimeter and spikes
of the wheel
-The group that decides upon connections -The group that creates the structure’s legs -The group that makes the hanging hammocks
The Bicycle Wheel Structure
forces in tension forces in compression
The Perimeter
Points of Connection
Construction of Connection
The Connection Sealed with a Screw
Challenges: -The angle of the connection had to be carefully calculated and constructed in order for the poeces to fit into each other. -The strips of wood had to be sandwiched to add strength to it. - To make a stiffer structure two wooden hexagons were constructed and rotated, overlaidone on topof each other.
Wheel Core To construct the wheel core we used two existing bicycle wheels, connecting them with copper square tubes which were welded together. Holes were drilled around the perimeter of the wheel to allow for the spikes of the wheel to be hooked upon.
Wheel connection points with spikes.
Testing structural capacity
Welding the pieces together
Wheel Structure and Spikes
Connection points of spikes to the core
Process of connecting the perimeter of the wheel to the core. Metal rings secured around the perimeter allowed for steel rods to be hooked upon. Holes within the core then hooked the other end of the steel rods securing the whole wheel structure together.
Intersection point of steel legs which were welded together with the hexagonal perimeter of the bicycle wheel-It tskes the logic of a tripod structure.
Construction of Hammocks
Forces of tension/pull
Forces of compression/push
Plan drawing of hammocks hanging from the bicycle wheel
Thicker and rougher rope was threaded into the fabric, creating tight knots which would be in tension. The next layer was a thinner smoother rope which extended towards the wooden planks of the hammock.
2
1 1 Rope looped over metalplates and then bolted together to create a secure loop for the hammock hook.
2 Knots which connect the bed of the hammock to a wooden panel to the end point.
Construction of Hammocks
Pull Points Pull Forces/Tension Load/Weight /In compression
Costa Rican Wheel
Stencils inspired by the Costa Rican wheel were cut so that we could spray pattern pattersn onto the fabrics
Assembly
Final Test- to see if the wheel canopy can take the weight of three people sitting simultaneously on the hammocks.
Connections and ropes in tension
Installation Process
Lifting the wheel structure up onto the tripod legs
Connection points for the hammocks to attach upon the main structure.
Final test Learning Points -Interactive colaboration and communication with people from another culture and teaching background. Their technical knowledge in buildiding prototypes combined with our creative approach helped us build an origibal proposal. -We learnt to reuse materials-found in rubbish pick up points, reuse left over material the university already had.-keeping our budget low -We made our own construction tools such as the needle to thread the hammocks or a tool to bend the steel hooks.
Final tests to check if the structure can take the weight of three people sitting simultaneously onto the hammocks. Results showed that the structure could temporarily take the weight however the fact that the legs were not connected onto the fround caused the canopy wheel to deflect.
-Through constructing a wheel we discovered its spanning potentials -In a very small time period we learnt how to work fast and found solutions to unexpected problems.