Constructing  environment  

Week  1  studio  journal  

Jianpeng  deng,  657598  

 

The   highlight   of   this   studio   section   is   the   group  work   assignment,  which   is   to  

divide  into  groups  (I  was  in  a  group  with  2  ladies),  building  a  so-­‐called  “ta”  with  

small  wooden  bricks.  I  am  sorry  that  I  did  not  take  any  photos  of  the  “ta”  we  built.  

The  shape  we  chose  for  the  “ta”  base,  we  tended  to  have  a  strong  base,  so  we  put  

the   bricks   horizontally   and   left   gaps   in   between   in   order   to   achieve   material  

efficiency.  As  shown  as  image  1.  

                                        Image  1  

 

Hence,  we  came  up  with  an  idea  of  making  it  a  triangle  base,  and  it  worked  pretty  

well  at   the  beginning,  as   it  was  being  built  higher  and  higher,   there  was  a  side  

which   I   took   charge   was   unable   for   further   progress,   then   we   had   to   leave   it  

aside.  Unfortunately,  due  to  this  failed  side,  we  could  not  build  the  “ta”  high,  this  

is  because  there  was  a  limitation  for  the  other  two  sides  to  put  the  bricks  on,  and  

also  because  we  did  not  have  enough  time.  Triangle  base  is  shown  as  follow.  

   

After  all  the  three  groups  had  done  with  the  “ta”,  the  tutor  then  illustrated  how  

the  structure  of  the  “ta”  contributed  to  the  stableness.  The  interesting  part  is  that  

in   order   to   test   the   stability   and   explain   how   the   system   worked,   he   started  

taking  away  the  bricks  from  the  bottom.  For  our  group’s  “ta”,  it  was  stable  at  the  

base  as  we  could  see  there  were  many  bricks  taken  out,  which  showed  that  the  

forces  were  diverted  to  other  areas  instead  of  the  bricks  below.  This  also  tells  us  

that   we   could   build   a   building   with   less   material   in   order   to   achieve   some  

purposes,   for   example,  making   it   artistic.   The  other  problem  with   the   “ta”  was  

the  collapsing,  when   there  were   the  same   forces  applied  on   its   three  sides,   the  

failed  side  could  not  bear   the   force  and   fell,  whereas   the  other   two  still   looked  

bearable.  

 

Further,  we  have  also  learnt  that  it  is  possible  to  build  it  up  to  2  meters  or  even  

higher   as   long   as   the   structure   of   the   “ta”   was   built   properly.   Under   the  

observation  with  a  2-­‐meter  high  “ta”,  the  base  of  which  was  wide  and  the  bricks  

closely  stacked  on  each  other;  however,  when  it  was  built  higher,   the  structure  

looked  narrower  and  finally  became  something  like  a  cone  shape,  and  the  bricks  

did  not  look  as  closely  stacked  as  the  bottom  ones.  

 

As  this  is  my  first  semester  as  well  as  the  first  studio  class  for  this  subject,  I  have  

to  apologize   that   I  did  not   fully  understand  what   to  do,   that   is  why   I  could  not  

post  any  photos  of  the  working.