Constructing Environment
Week 1~3 Lecture Knowledge Map
ID 692252
Constructing Environment
Week 1 E-‐Learning & Studio Knowledge Map
ID 692252
Constructing Environment
ID 692252
Week 1 Studio Session: Building Tower with Wooden Blocks We started with planning and testing. The hint given is the more angles of the buildings, the more stable of its structure. Hence, circle might be the most stable structure for us to start with. We chose the most In order to make the tower secured way to more stable and steady for a construct the tower. certain height, we decided We divided it into to lay down the wood bricks three different to maximize the contact are section, with the between the base of the decreasing contact tower and the table. area with the underneath level, but increasing height by adjusting the orientation of We have two options of the hollowed doors on the bricks. the tower (as shown in the drawings). The first one is just simply extend the bricks, but with a brick standing up to help holding the bricks, in order to prevent the bricks at the top will fall. The second one is started with a certain height stronger foundation, and extends it carefully with more bricks holding up. It use the idea of stagger to increase the friction and hope can better support the extended bricks.
Constructing Environment
ID 692252
Due to the limitation of time, the tower is not actually completed (toward a fragile status). However, I still build a section to indicate the three different section of the tower, based on the changing orientation of the bricks. However, a significant changes is also made with a careful consideration of out tutor`s advice – the intersection of the second and third lever, I added an layer of lay-‐downed bricks in order to increase the contact areas of the third level of the bricks. This is detailed shown in a close-‐shot diagram.
Finally, we made both designed of the doors, and they both succeed. (But the second one didn`t been recorded in a picture) It is important for me to notice that you cannot build the door at once, but need to build it level by level in a circle. During this process, we will also adjust the bricks to better fully fit the gaps between the bricks.
Finally, we were starting to extract some blocks from the tower. As shown in the picture, a huge gap (as big as the door) has been hollowed without the tower falling down! This phenomenon was explained in the drawing, as the pressure from the upper bricks acts on the lower ones, and keep them fixed and stable, which also explained the succeed of the hollowed doors before.
Constructing Environment
Week 2 E-‐Learning & Studio Knowledge Map
ID 692252
Constructing Environment
ID 692252
Week 2 Studio Session: Building Tower with balsa wood strips Before the studio, we have to cut the balsa wood into 20~40 long pieces. However, the more we cut, the weaker the strips. Hence, it is a difficult task for us to build a tower using these brittle wood strips. In order to make the strips stronger and be able to bear the weight, we decided to make the foundation and the basic level of the tower with two strips connecting together. With the substructure, there is a gap at each point of the combination strip. Therefore, when two if them crossover, a square will be hollowed in between, then the long strip will put into it as the first level. This increases the contact area of the column with the base, which might make it stronger and less possibility to fall down. As we haven’t built the tower yet, we can only predict the finish of it. I recon the ways of constructing do work and can be able to build up a tower. However, it might not able to reach a significant height, as the foundation might be a little bit too small for such a high tower. In addition, without the diagonal bracing, the tower might be quite fragile, hence bracing might be important to fixed the colomns.
As drew in the diagram, this is what the tower might look like after construction. The dotted line indicate the diagonal bracing which might or might not be necessary it the base is strong enough. The connecting point of each level is similar to what we have done at the foundation, which should be able to hold the structure of the tower.