TDJ E-Portfolio
Saumya Amar
What are the three main types of towers and how do they differ?
What are some constraints you must consider while building a tower?
What is the major cause of damage to a tower?
How can one create structural support for a tower?
What are some famous towers and challenges faced while building them?
The three main types of towers are Monopole which are 100-200 feet tall, Self-supporting with the height of 100-400 tall and Guyed with 100- 2,150 feet tall. Their heights differ.
Some constraints to be considered are space, environment, weather conditions, materials available and budget.
Some of them can be due to uneven surfaces and climate changing factors.
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Draw your preliminary design with full wood outlines.
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ALL joints should have absolutely flush surfaces before applying glue.
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Structures are symmetric.
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Up to 20% of the structure's mass may be from over gluing.
By making the base stable and firm, by adding a lot of shapes like triangles and square, by not building it too high but broad so that it can handle more weight.
How can you build your tower to withstand a heavy weight?
Leaning Tower of Pisa: The failure of the Leaning Tower of Pisa is due primarily to the location of the tower and the instability of the ground underneath the foundation.
Eiffel Tower: As it was at a very high altitude, and the material used was iron, which caused the tower to shake and shrink.
DESIGN PROCESS
Identify the Need
We are making a popsickle stick tower to learn about architectural types and to understand the concept behind them. Some of the constraints are that we only have 60 sticks and the tower has to be tall instead of wide.
RESEARCH
3 Sample Solutions
Sketch 1
Sketch 2
Skecth 3
Communicate the Chosen Design by My Group
REDESIGN
If I would be given an opportunity to redesign this tower, I would make exterior walls on all the sides of the tower and try to make the tower straight by properly measuring and cutting the sticks and joining them properly.
REFLECTION
Building towers using pop sickle sticks was something I had never done before. It was a pretty nice experience as the concept was new and I really enjoyed learning about architecture. I selected this for my portfolio because this was really different from all the other units and thus I wanted to show something new and unique in my portfolio. From this project, I learnt about different types of towers, factors which affect the location and building of tower. The biggest challenge we faced in this assignment was that while making the tower, the sticks were not cut properly and due to that we had a lot difficulties in sticking them together. Now I know that proper proportion and cutting the materials properly affects the design of the tower and I wish that I could now change it in the tower.
Pros and Cons
+ve
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Has a strong base
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Cross structure holds more strength
-ve
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Very Simple design
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Lack of detail and exterior walls
Pros and Cons
+ve
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Has a huge and supportive base
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Cross structure holds more strength
-ve
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Looks more like a bridge instead of tower
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It is wider instead of taller
Pros and Cons
+ve
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Cross structure on every levels
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It is longer thus stronger
-ve
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Single stick one above other might not be that strong.
My Final Design!!
I chose this design because it is the tallest one in my design and has a strong frame with crossed popsickle sticks. The base has popsickle sticks stuck side by side which makes a flat and firm base. The pillar in the center balances both the sides and the slanting support from both sides will not let the tower fall or break.
We chose this design as the final one because this design looks different from normal towers and it looks quite strong because of small components combined together. It has three levels with two boxes in the first level, one box in the second level and again two boxes in the topmost level. This gave it a strong base and the roof on which the books were to be placed. These are some of the reasons for finalizing this design.
Some of the problems that we faced were due to cutting the sticks, the edges had become rough and not straight. Due to this, we had some problem sticking them together. We encountered this problem by joining two sticks together and make a V-shape to support the sticks. This helped them in sticking together and create a box. Another problem was the proportion. After making our tower, it looked tilted.
Testing Time!!
Problems Faced
Why This Design??
Our Design held a total of 11 books very well. After 11 books, it did not break but slipped on one side.
11 Books!