Last time I blogged I talked about looking at other ways of making materials that were weak and fragile strong.   With this in mind I did some experiments based on the principle of layering and binding.   This is what happened.

 

 

 

These are photos of cardboard tubes from rolls of fabric.   Continuing on from the bamboo model, I decided to layer them again to make them stronger. As before with the bamboo, one tube on its own could bend, flatten and break but once layered they were stronger and could hold considerable weight.
In my research I was intrigued to find the Architect Shigeru Ban who had designed  a cardboard A framed  cathedral structure to replace the  Gothic style one damaged in the 2011 February earthquake  in New Zealand's Christchurch.  When I looked further I discovered he had done this several times before in other areas where disaster had struck, using cardboard tubes to build houses and temporary shelters.  In 2007 he even designed a bridge Remoulin in France, again using cardboard tubes.


Next I used crackers again layering.   As before one on its own was brittle and broke easily.   However once glued and layered they transformed into something stronger capable of holding weight.

My next experiment was with fabric.   In its original state it could be folded, squashed,squeezed, sewed, crumpled but always returned to its supple soft and floppy state.   So how was I going to make something as fragile as fabric rigid and strong.   I decided to roll and bind it and to strengthen it further I brushed it with PVA glue and hoped when it dried it would have a stronger rigid feel.  I also made bricks with it again using PVA but with shredded fabric and then binding with thread.   The thread was to hold everything together while it dried but it also added another layer of strength to them.

The drying process for both the fabric rolls and bricks was a long one, once dry the became light and rigid but also incredibly strong.  To test them I got Michael who weights 12stone 8lbs to stand on them.    They held firm and didn't flatten or break.

 

Today I want to explore strength and fragility in relation to my use of material.   Again I have taken my inspiration from the buttresses.    They were built to provide strength and to stop the walls bulging outward from the weight of the roof.   They were constructed using big stone but small stone, river gravel and other materials that were suitable and convenient to the site would have been used.  These structures are broad at the base tapering in as they go up the building. 

        

                                  

As in the last experiment I decided that I would make some more models using bamboo. The previous experiment involved making models that I left open to exploit the sense of the materials fragile nature contrasting with the solidness of the stone and strength in the buttresses.    This time I wanted to enhance the strength of the material  through layering.

Below are some sketches of my idea.

Next I made some models

By layering rows of bamboo I have made a dense stronger structure that is now capable of supporting considerable weight in spite of its small stature.  To test its strength I placed a cement block on top of the model and then I got Brid to stand on top of it.   Incidentally Brid is seven stone.

I have also started making a similar structure using cardboard rolls and hope to test it when I have made it taller.    Will be back with the results and with a series of other materials I would like to test in a similar fashion.

Today I'm back looking at the stone buttresses in Holycross Abbey.

I found myself sitting at the base of these buttresses looking skyward and liking the lines I saw. I started to draw them hoping this would lead me in the direction of an element I might want to explore for my project.

I decided to make some models of these lines in bamboo and by leaving them open they have none of the solidness of their stone counterparts.

After this experiment I think I am more interested in the strength versus the weakness of the building and also these same characteristics in materials too.   How can I use something that is considered weak or fragile and transform it making it strong.   I hope through different methods and manipulation of materials to experiment with this process further.