Constructing   environment  

Week   2   studio   journal  

Jianpeng   deng  

657598  

 

This  week  studio  class,  each  one  of  us  was  asked  to  talk  about  what  we  have  

learnt  from  the  textbook.  Also,  the  quiz  test  is  started  this  week  onwards.  I  got  to  

admit  that  I  did  very  badly  in  the  question-­‐asking  section  and  the  quiz.  There  it  

came  to  the  assignment  discussion,  with  the  advice  by  the  tutor,  I  finally  had  an  

orientation  of  doing  the  first  assignment,  which  is  to  find  a  family  of  cube  shape.  

And  for  the  second  assignment,  I  chose  the  SPANMAN  option.  The  word  I  got  for  

the  studio  glossary  is  “truss”.  

 

The  class  group  work  for  this  week  is  just  like  the  one  for  last  week,  is  to  build  a  

“ta”.  However,  this  time  the  material  that  we  used  is  different,  they  are  25-­‐string  

balsa  sheets  and  glue.  The  objective  is  to  build  it  as  high  as  possible,  but  the  most  

crucial  problem  is  the  base  design  must  be  strong  enough  to  hold  the  whole  

structure  stable;  because  unlike  the  brick  structure,  the  strings  are  soft  and  glue  

hardly  sticks  the  joints  firmly  if  there  is  too  much  forces  applied  on  the  particular  

joints.  Actually,  by  the  end  of  the  tutorial,  I  learnt  that  the  design  of  the  structure  

is  also  important.  Here  are  the  pictures  of  our  group’s  work.  

 Picture  1                                                                                   Picture  2  

  Picture  3    

The   interesting   thing   is  our   “ta”  was  really  high  enough  that   it  was   the  highest  

among   the   three   “ta”.   However,   it   could   not   stand   straight   but   have   to   lean  

against  the  wall.  There  we  then  found  out  the  reason  why  this  happened,  it  was  

because  the  height   lifted  up  the  center  of  gravity  of  the  “ta”  too  much,  and  also  

the  base  was  not  strong  enough,  hence  if  there  is  a  slightly  slant  angle,  it  will  lean  

away   and   fall.   Another   interesting   thing   I   have   learnt   is   that,   when   there   is   a  

force  push  the  “ta”  downwards,  it  will  bend  the  strings  to  break  apart  right  in  the  

middle,  I  guess  this  is  due  to  the  Newton’s  second  law,  forces  apply  conversely.  

Shown  as  image  1.  

  Image  1  

By  “destroying”  other  groups’  “ta”,  we  also  conclude  that,  it  cannot  be  built  stiff  

when  the  strings  is  not  cut  properly.  In  addition,  due  to  the  natural  of  the  

material,  which  is  the  balsa  strings,  the  “ta”  would  rather  bend  a  bit  than  

breaking  instantly;  it  is  said  as  the  flexibility  of  material.  Shown  as  image  2.  

image  2