The idea behind this design was to keep to the basics. I tried to keep my design as close to most people's original though of a "stool." Which I felt  would be 4 legs and a seat.

The post and lintel scheme of structure is one of the original structural designs and my stool is based upon those ideals. "Understanding Architecture, Firmness, How a Building Stands Up," cites this passage, "The column and Beam, or the post and lintel system, is as old as construction in permanent materials." It goes on to state that this idea had been used for several hundred years as the trabeated system prior to being claimed as post and lintel. The simplicity and originality was the goal but several factors hindered my system from being joint well. I had hoped that cutting holes in the cardboard sheet beneath the seat(sheet that the rings go through) would hold the posts in place. It turned out, however, when weight was applied the holes would stretch out and lose its grip on the legs. I tried to compensate by developing a shim system, but it ended up just battling the integrity of the cardboard. Aside from the legs not joining very crisply(which led to instability), when aligned correctly, my stool could hold a tremendous amount of weight. It didn't take long to realize that rolled up pieces of cardboard was the best way to get a significant structural strength out of the cardboard.

The seat was designed out of a series of notching systems that would allow the cardboard to fold within itself, which allowed for the other piece of cardboard holding the legs together to be hidden. While the structure may seem simple, the squares around the legs served a dual purpose. They held the spiraled cardboard together while I tried to incorporate aesthetic value out of them by varying their heights. Hindsight, I wish I could have used that idea and created a better bracing system to hold the legs together to create the stability that the stool lacked.

Overall, I was pleased with the strength of my stool and the visual originality that it consisted of. While sticking to basic structural ideals, it also contributed to patriotism(which was by sheer coincidence) and appealed in its own American way.