Yesterday in our History and Theory class a client kept referring to our class as “engineers.” From working in a civil engineering office for five years it’s easy to see the overlaps that occur in the fields of engineering and architecture, but all too often the fields do not. That was the case today; we learned we are not engineers.
This morning Studio V met with John Moore, our structural engineer of choice from 4SE, to discuss the functionality of our structure and trailer designs. Mr. Moore spent time looking at both designs and then took time to offer proposals on how to alleviate any structural issues we might face continuing with this project.
For the screen structure itself John suggested we look deeper into the joints and bearings that we are using. He also had some suggestions for the main arched channel that the screen opens along. We will be looking for more of a J-shaped arch than a standard curve, and strengthening the wood beam it is cut into. Lastly we discussed how to adjust the legs of the structure for differing grade changes on site. We talked about adding a heel to the leg, or an additional piece that can be used for grade changes. John was also extremely helpful by suggesting some places for us to go to pursue parts for our structure.
John helped us to iron out the one wheeled trailer structure as well. His only concern is that the trailer would become unstable while being pulled. This concern was based on the trailer only having two points of stabilization (the wheel and ball) compared to standard trailer which has three (two wheels and a ball). However due to changes in the structure, and the limited budget we have decided to take a step back from the one wheeled trailer to pursue a narrow track two wheeled one. Even though it’s hard to let it go, it is good to know that we did successfully figure out how to build one.
This weekend we will be working on adapting the structure to accommodate the changes John Moore suggested, continuing to test the screen material and the methods to suspend it, adapting the trailer to pursue having two wheels and looking for materials for both the trailer and structure. This weekend will provide time for us to gain momentum into finalizing the design. Hopefully come Monday are design will be artistically beautiful and structurally sound.