Week 2 JournalConstructing Environment634 066 Cheuk Sing Cheung

Week 2 - Balsa sticks exercise

This is Constructing Environment studio 18, week 2. Over this studio, we are asked to build a building with balsa

sticks.

Unlike last week, frame structure is used as there is limited number of balsa sticks and it is more efficient to build with

frame structure than mass construction method.

Week 2 - Balsa sticks exercise

There are two objective for this balsa stick building: tall, and withstand

the maximum load. to achieve this, a stable structure should be used, but in this case, only frame structure is being considered as there is limit from the material.

Best structure?

Within frame structure, there are different style to reach the goal.

For example, knee bracing, k-brace, cross bracing,trussed tube, latticed truss, etc. What we have done, I think, is to find out which style suits the ma-terial most. As the exercise go on, it is found out that tringular shape is the most stable structure, regarding how the triangle is formed.

Week 2 - balsa sticks exercise

Weak point

Till the end of the studio, load test are ap-plied on the building. Two heavy loads were

put on the building platform slowly and we can observe the weak point of the building clearly. For example, in this building, the weak point is on the platform, the two columns with red-circled. We can observe that the 3 weak points have no proper support or efficient way to transfer loads, thus these points are easier to break.

Week 2 - balsa sticks exerciseFail attempt - How and why?

The only building that even can’t stand by itself is the one that my group made. The idea of our building is building a pyramid with a inverted

pyramid, with 3 supports on the sides, that can transfer loads in a most efficient way as pyramids are made up of triangles. However, without ac-curate calculation and limited skills, we can’t build the angle needed and the locations of the supports.