COMPRESSION -WEEK 1

STUDI O JOURNAL

The aim for week 1 was building a construction with the sole aim of reaching height. My initial thought was to use a basic structural principle, where the load would be evenly distributed, and therefore have few weaker points throughout the structure. The reasoning behind this was also because in a structure aiming for height, the base is the point where the load can bear the most weight. Differing /similar methods and terms were discussed in Ching and Interactive structures. The concept of using spacing was simply to achieve more balance, and is pictured on the diagram to the right.

plan/ brief sketch

sketch/ info

The first step of building the dome like shape.

Now just building up the layers, a strong construction...

Going up and up, seems like a stable construction..

We realised by this stage we were low on blocks..

The point where continuing the building proccess had to be quick and spontaneous was the result of this. using the similar principle of distributing weight at even loads..

COMPRESSION - WEEK 1

STUDI O JOURNAL

Due to the lack of time, we were forced to use an alternative to reach height. Whilst to an extent it was effective, it lacked any compressive strength, so in the test of putting a container on top for example, it wouldn’t of been so successful.

Pros/ Cons

The proccess of distributing the weight load was very effective. However, once a certain point was reached, and resources became scarce,the tower became structurally poor at the top, tapering and having very little strength.

Looking at some of the other, more efficient tapering strategies, a more successful method could have been the use of the dome shape at the top, but using less blocks. another group utilized principles of mass effectively, using a triangular like base, and meeting at the top in an efficient manner.

Zac Goldberg 582837