Stool

When conceiving ideas for the stool I was interested in exploring the idea that the supporting structure of the stool was also the artistic design. I considered many shapes the structure and subject and landed with three options that I liked. Circles were the most interesting to look at but lacked the ability to hold the structure. Meanwhile, squares were the most efficient structurally but were not very interesting. Triangles landed between these with adequate structural integrity and interesting form. 

The next step was designing this idea into a stool. The construction idea came from the use of truss in bridges as a light/ low material use way of building very strong structures. As I was exploring this idea we also discussed its use in class. I started with only the angled pieces notched into the top and bottom but this resulted in a very strong center and very weak points where the top ‘seat’ had to span. I solved this by adding in vertices to divide every triangle in half and add vertical support. This also made the stool feel less transparent and more heavy/grounded which I liked. This still was not quite enough to prevent sagging so I added a second top (so that it was two pieces stacked). However, this really didn’t help and I didn't like the asymmetrical look it added so I got rid of it and decided to just hope for the best. In the end, though the top bent a little, it was structurally sound for me to sit on. 

In the end I am pretty happy with the structural look of the stool but wish I had built it to sustain more weight- perhaps by doubling every single piece of cardboard (as this design only used 3/4 of one sheet).