Newspaper Structure

Our goal for this in-class activity was to design and build a free-standing structure entirely out of 40-50 sheets of newspaper and a quarter-roll of masking tape. Each group of four or five members designed a structure and writes down the instructions for how to build then. Next week, a different group was given the instructions and had to construct the structure. All the group members of the design team had to be able to stand inside the completed structure. In addition, each structure had to survive a push test. More information on the assignment specifics can be found here.

Our team name for the project was the "Phearsome Pharoahs" since our design loosely resembled a pyramid. My teammates were Mike Chester, Carl Peterson, and Monica Ullagaddi.

The Design

During the design phase, we originally had an idea for a three-dimensional frame. Sometime during the discussion of this frame, our idea evolved into a pyramid-type structure. With a pyramid or tripod shape, you do not have to worry about it tipping over during the push test. as long as each pole is rolled strong enough, and the height is not an issue since the legs can be spread further apart or closer together to make the pyramid shorter or taller. The structure is also easy to conceptualize and build.

Once we agreed to create a tripod-like structure, we had to talk about the legs. First, we realized that having three legs may not be enough. We then decided that it would probably be better to have four legs to provide extra support. Since each leg requires about eight sheets of newspaper, there would still be eight sheets left over following the addition of a fourth leg.

Then we had to figure out how our creation would pass the push test. A push to one of the legs can cause it to bend inward and bring down the remainder of the structure with it. Thus, each leg had to be able to resist this bending. We thought that if we fold the paper instead of rolling, then place the leg so that the folded side is facing outward, a head on push should not be able to overcome the rigidness of the folded paper.

To test this folding theory out, we made a simple prototype of one of the legs. As it turns out, the folding did not work that well. Rolling the paper is just as good, if not better. Despite the disappointment, I am glad we created this prototype. If we had not built this simple prototype, our design may not have worked.

The Build

Our group had to build the design of Crazy Cool whose structure was a rectangular box. Unfortunately, when we were finishing the construction of the legs, which took about eight minutes each, we soon realized that there would not be nearly enough support by the skinny poles to hold up the ceiling. We tried to improvise on their design, but to no avail. Even with their unique triangular fold method, the roof to the structure was far too overpowering.

The Outcome

Our design was built by The Irrationals. Their only major improvision was to make the legs stronger by adding more newspaper to each one. The result was similar to our original design and looked great:

Our construction of Crazy Cool's design was never able to stay standing on its own. At the last minute, we tried to get some points by creating any semblance of a free-standing structure with what we had. The result is here:

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