Week 01
Journal Paulina Pytka 637869
Our Model: The Columns The initial idea for the structure was to build four columns to support a roof while enabling four entry points as per the project’s constrains.
Another Group’s stacking technique. Signs of separation.
Evenly distributed load
When a load is applied to the block formation on the left, the edges of the blocks are pushed away from one another. Overlapping them, as shown on the right, counters this force. The decision to hollow out the columns is believed to have distributed the weight away from the center and improved rigidity.
This top view shows the way in which overlapping was applied to the columns.
Our Model: The Roof In order to form a larger surface out of blocks, rubber bands were used. These employed tensile forces to hold the blocks together. Rubber band Concentrated gravity load By further layering overlapping sequences of blocks, any load applied to this structure relies on their compressive qualities rather than the rubber alone. The curving of the roof structure, observed from the side, when a load was applied showed some degree of a tensile system supporting the weight. This reinforces the grid lay out of beams and loadbearing walls discussed by Ching (2008), where intersections represent the location of columns in response to concentrated gravity loads.
Other Model: The Roof Cont’d Although our roof system was of a flat form, it managed to support a load better than others. This is attributed to the compression resulting from having more than one layer of blocks. Nonetheless, the top right image shows an approximation of an arch. According to Ching (2008), arches are compression structures that “support the load above an opening by allowing a stress to flow around the opening to adjacent sections of the wall”. A suggested way of achieving an arch could have involved the use of elastic bands.
FRONT
Lining up a series of such arches could be used to create a vault.
SIDE
3D
Our Model: The Walls The walls were a final addition believed to further improve the structures ability to support bear a load. This proved helpful in straightening the curve that developed in the roof however, adding another floor would have also been of assistance. The effects of adding another floor were observed in another group’s model. The red arrows indicate an equal but opposite force to that of the blue arrows, thus straightening out the curve in the roof structure.
Reference List Ching, F 2008, Building Construction Illustrated, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Canada.