Response #4

            When I first started designing my stool, I immediately went to the hexagon shape. I thought this would be a great way to make the stool feel light and airy without losing the structural integrity. I actually made a model first out of paper to test and see if it would be strong enough. I had to experiment with making the circles in the middle as big as possible while keeping the tabbing and slotting structural. After the first draft of cardboard, I discovered that my hole in the middle was too big and was causing the cardboard to buckle at the largest diameter of the circle. A classmate suggested I double the cardboard in the stool and because I had only used one sheet for the first draft, I took his advice. I also had the idea of keeping a center structure because that is where most of the weight of the person would fall. I think that doing both of these things helped with the structure of the stool and because there weren’t many additions, I kept the original look of my stool as well. The details and ornamentation on the stool really came from the structure and building of the stool, not necessarily from pure aesthetic choices. For example, the star shape in the top of the stool comes from needing to keep the top on the stool as well as keep the vertical pieces from moving, not from an aesthetic choice. The circular parts did come from an aesthetic choice, but the tabs in each pie piece, do indeed provide structure as well. I think that my stool very blatantly shows its structure. The six vertical columns are needed in order for the stool to function and I didn’t try to hide those elements. Overall, I am very happy with how my stool turned out and I think that making a model and discussing it in class allowed me to create the best stool I could!