Journal  Week  2  -­‐  Frame   In  this  week’s  studio,  students  were  divided  into  groups  to  build  a  tower  frame  using  balsa  wood.  Basic  concepts  of  structure,  form  and  staAcs  were  taken  into  account  in  building  the  frame.    

A  square  base  is  used  in  this  challenge.  The  iniAal  idea  of  using  this  square  base  is  to  allow  the  weight  of  the  frame  to  be  segregated  more  evenly  to  the  ground.    My  group  also  used  the  concept  of  ‘cross  bracing’  to  stabilize  the  structure  against  lateral  forces  from  either  direcAon.    

To  ensure  the  forces  are  transferred  from  one  structural  element  to  the  next,  we  used  pinned  joints  between  joined  elements.    

Pinned  Joint  using  pins  

The  same  concepts  were  conAnuously  used  to  finish  the  frame.  However,  due  to  the  lack  of  pieces  of  balsa  wood,  aNenAon  was  mostly  placed  onto  creaAng  the  frame,  hence  neglecAng  the  stability/strength.    

End  product  

AQer  compleAng  the  structure,  it  was  tested  for  its  stability  and  strength  to  withhold  some  objects.    A  couple  of  the  wood  snapped  once  weight  was  applied  onto  the  tower.    

One  of  the  main  reasons  why  the  wood  broke  was  because  there  foundaAon  system  of  the  tower  is  not  well  built.  This  was  mainly  because  there  was  lack  of  wood.      The  second  reason  why  the  building  is  not  stable  could  be  because  of  the  square  base.      Thirdly,  I  find  the  efficiency  of  balsa  wood  really  poor.  It  breaks  too  easily.