Making the Minnetrista Puppet TheaterThe theater was a collaborative project involving George Buss and Tonya Kunkel

of Minnetrista Theatre Preserves and a class of thirteen graduate and undergraduate architecture students from Ball State University, enrolled in the advanced digital

fabrication seminar taught by instructor Michael Gibson. Over the course of a semester and under the advisement of Michael, the students developed

the design concept for the theater, pitched their ideas to George and Tonya, designed and refined the theater using computer

models, and constructed and assembled the theater using computer-controlled equipment.

CREDITSMinnetrista Theatre Preserves

George Buss and Tonya Kunkel

Class Advisor/Instructor: Michael Gibson

Student Participants:Branden Clements

Benjamin GreenbergAndrew Heilman Gregory Hittler

Eric Laine Austin LucariJon Meier James Moehring

Victoria Molina Justin Sorber Mark Vanden Akker Brianna Newton Deepak Baniya Sangita Shakya

Special Thanks:Institute for Digital Fabrication (Ball State University) Special thanks for continuing support of the digital fabrication seminar, for assistance with CNC routing, and for providing intern students to help with final fabrication and assembly. See more special fabrication projects by Ball State architecture students at www.i-m-a-d-e.org.Meyer Plastics - Indianapolis, INPlastics sourcingArrowhead Inc. - Eaton, INThanks for all the help receiving and handling materials!

Poster Images:Michael Gibson, Sangita Shakya, Victoria Molina, and other students.

Posters Design:Michael Gibson

Making the Minnetrista Puppet Theater

1. First Meeting: The Process Starts!Before the students could begin working on the design of the new theater, they needed help from George Buss and Tonya Kunkel from

Minnetrista Theatre Preserves. Tonya and George showed the students the existing puppet theater and how puppets, puppeteers, and actors use the theater to perform. They also gave the students the details on what the new theater

needed to be like. Two of the important ideas were that it needed to be waterproof and portable in parts. Each part of the theater would have to be moved together in a single van, and no part could weigh

more than about 75 pounds - or what two people could carry up stairs and into places like schools and libraries. The theater needed to be easy to put together with as few

bolts as possible. And most important of all, it had to be friendly to the environment because the first play to take place using the

theater would be all about recycling! It wasn’t easy to design the theater and

build it, but luckily the team had a lot of fun doing it.

^ This is Minnetrista’s original puppet theater. It is the sort of puppet

theater that is usually used for puppet shows for small audiences, and is made out of hinged plywood that

is repainted with each show. Minnetrista was interested in trying out something new for a their theater and asked the Digital

Fabrication class to help them.

Students had a chance to ‘study’ how

puppets are used. It was pretty funny!

2. Concept DevelopmentA design concept comes at the beginning of designing something. It is an early, sketch idea about what a design should be about or should look like.Students started to develop concepts for the puppet theater, thinking about Minnetrista and about how puppet theaters worked. Three of the more important ideas are shown here.One idea was to make something out of strong, intersecting arc shapes that would remind people of Catalyst, the sculpture in front of Minnetrista. Another idea was to develop a shape that would look like Minnetrista’s logo (the Acanthus leaves decorating the top of a column). Yet another idea proposed a theather made out of a shell.All of the ideas shown here influenced the final design of the theater.

Even though today’s designers

use computers much of the time, many ideas still begin

as sketches like these.

3. More Concept DevelopmentAs the semester progressed, the students met in person with George and Tonya of Minnetrista to

have their designs critiqued. A critique is where design students present their design work - in the form of ideas, models, and drawings - to others who give them comments.

The comments will either recognize strengths of the designs or things that could be improved.

Students showed three different designs that they developed in groups. The comments and feedback from George and Tonya

helped the group move toward one, final design concept that could be developed in further detail.

Later, the group realized that an enclosed theater could help project

sound out to an audience, especially outside in an open space. The shape of the theater could actually help the

audience hear the show! Students developed many different computer models to test how the shape of

the theater reflected sound, and where the sound would go. The image at the above right shows a computer simulation with representative sound waves coming from inside the theater.

The three designs presented at the meeting were all very good, and the team decided to merge them all into a new scheme that took the best aspects of each. The design below was presented by Branden and Mark, and was based on Branden’s earlier sketches for a theater made out of a shell. Everyone liked the idea of a shell for the theater with multiple openings for puppets to come out, instead of a traditional folded screen.

4. Plastic ResearchMinnetrista wanted the puppet theater to be durable, weather-proof, and environmentally-friendly. These criteria led the class towards HDPE - or High-Density Polyethylene. HDPE is considered to be one of the most environmentally-friendly plastics because it can be formed and recycled at relatively low temperatures and with little pollution. Students experimented with HDPE samples early in the semester to try different ways to bend and connect pieces.You can find HDPE by looking for a #2 recycling symbol. Milk and detergent bottles, cutting boards, building wrap, and many other common products are made of HDPE. To be recycled, HDPE materials are shredded or ground into pieces and remolded.

So, What is the Puppet Theater Made From?The puppet theater was made from two types of chemically similar sheet plastic: black HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) and green UHMWPE (Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene). Both materials are “regrind” - offcuts and leftover scraps from plastic production that are collected in the factory and reformed again. Industrial scraps used to go to landfills, but now waste like regrind is actually quite valuable! In fact, the plastic that you recycle is extremely valuable to manufacturers - too valuable to send it to the landfill!

HDPE

UHMWPE

5. Study ModelsModels were made by the students while they were designing the theater shell and the chairs. Some models were made of cardboard or paper, while others were built on the computer. In both cases, models helped designers understand the design in 3-D and helped them imagine how it could be built.

With each design revision, students had to make sure that the theater was functional. If not,

the actors may not fit, or the height of the ‘stage’ might not work!

6. Computer Design and ModelingThe students used computer software to create detailed, 3-D computer models of the final design. The 3-D model was

important for controlling how each piece of the puppet theater would be shaped and connected. Working with computer models, the class decided on a way to build the theater based on modules - ‘building blocks’ that

combined thicker plastic frames with a lighter-weight skin. The modules fit together like a puzzle and when assembled, would create a strong shell. The final model established 10

modules, each with its own unique skin and frame components.Using computer modeling, the students could be certain that each

part could be cut from a 4 foot by 8 foot sheet and all of the parts together would not exceed the number of

plastic sheets dictated by the budget.

The 3-D model can be spun around in any direction while

creating or viewing it. You can even look inside the model, or view it from outside as it would

be seen in real life. The modeling software may look difficult to use, but with practice, building models on the computer can feel as

natural as making models out of paper!

7. CNC CuttingThe plastic pieces of the theater weren’t cut out by hand! Instead, the students’ computer model was converted

into computer files that could be read by a CNC router. A router is a machine that cuts using a very sharp, fast-spinning cutting bit; CNC stands for ‘computer numerical control’, which is another way of saying

that the router, much like a robot, is controlled and automated by a computer. The CNC router can cut at an accuracy of 1/10,000 of an inch...much more accurate cutting than you could

ever do using common tools! The router loads the computer files and arranges them in a pattern, called a nest, on each sheet of material. Nesting is important because

it reduces unnecessary scraps and waste. The router cut the plastic at speeds of between 1 and 3 inches per second. When cutting was

going well, each 4 foot by 8 foot sheet of plastic took several minutes to cut into parts. The CNC router used in the

project is owned by Ball State University and used each semester by architecture students and

faculty to build projects.

The CNC router below is cutting the 3/4” thick plastic used for the theater structure. The high density plastic used in the project was cut at a speed between 1 and 3 inches per second.

< The cutting head of the machine

(behind the yellow enclosure) is connected to a

vacuum that sucks away chips and dust. The plastic is held down by another

very powerful vacuum that keeps it from moving while the router is cutting.

8. Sorting Pieces, Building FramesWith a day of CNC milling finished, the students sorted out all of the pieces that were cut to make sure every piece was completed. Including the chairs, almost 100 individual parts were cut out. Because many of the parts look similar, a series of shallow circles were cut into the parts so that their position among the 10 modules was clear. Do you notice these markings in the picture? The frames were

screwed together using wood screws. A special set of

notches cut into the ends of each part ensured that the corners fit

tightly and squarely.

9. Assembling the ModulesWith the all of the black plastic frames completed, the students added the green plastic skin pieces to the frames. Bends in the skin were made using the heat from a plastic bender. Once a skin piece had been positioned properly, the students would drill holes through the materials and connect them with a special fastener called a rivet. The rivets are ‘popped’ by a special tool that looks like hand pliers. As the rivet tool pulls at the rivet, a piece of metal inside it moves, causing the rivet to grip inside its hole just like a screw would. The metal piece then pops off. As the modules were completed, they were arranged side by side in the lab to make sure they fit properly.

There are exactly 495 rivets connecting

the plastic skin to the frames of the theater. The

rivets are aluminum, which will keep them from rusting and were also

much cheaper than typical screws.

10. Complete!After the puppet theater was finished, it was handed over to

Minnetrista Theatre Preserves. When the theater’s useful life ends, it won’t be thrown out - it

will be recycled!

< Actors from Minnetrista Theatre

Preserves assemble the ten modules of the puppet

theater in preparation for a show of Creature at the Edge of Town, a play

about how to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

The plastic used for the theater can be

cut and drilled just like wood, so the theater can be readily

adapted for future purposes. Scraps from building the theater were saved instead of being

thrown out - Minnetrista kept these scraps for use in promoting the theater and for future projects.