STUDIO ARC300: THIRD YEAR DESIGN
University of Kansas, School of Architecture and Urban Design
Nils Gore, Assistant Professor

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Chris Walla

The Cardboard Box

The typical cardboard box serves the basic function of storing and protecting its contents; usually no more than a six-sided container with one access to the interior. The theory behind my box breaks these basic rules. First of all there is more than one interior space. Each of these spaces has their own individual opening for access to the inside. With these individual spaces, there isn’t just one top or bottom to the box, like ordinary cardboard boxes have. Therefore, when you rotate the box from side to side, the positions of top and bottom also rotate. Next, there is no clearly defined exterior to the box. The outside walls are not solid but rather only defined by various edges. In a typical box, there are usually five solid walls containing the interior space. Yet in this case, not only are there multiple interior spaces, but these spaces are what define the outer edge of the box. Finally, by breaking the rules of the standard box, yet at the same time keeping the general shape in mind, I used the simple pieces of the box to create a complex design.

The basic design of the box is quite simple. In two dimensions, it is a continuous line spiraling around itself until it eventually connects to the starting point. However, in a three dimensional point of view, this simple design gets a little more intricate. But to continue with the concept of complexity, I took this three-dimensional design and shifted all the lines one way or the other. Thus, there are no longer any lines or planes meeting at a corner but rather, they intersect and pass straight through. Therefore, out of a simple, continuous line, a complex, three-dimensional figure is formed.

To start I used four pieces of cardboard, each one foot square. In addition to these, twelve smaller squares were used; these were six inches. In order to connect the pieces together, each of the sixteen squares has a notch cut out of it. This notch will allow for its adjoining piece to slide through and intersect the plane. The internal frame of the box was made of the four larger pieces. These were connected to each other by placing two of them horizontally and the other two vertically, keeping in mind that none of the edges will meet. Once this main section is formed, the smaller squares are connected to make four smaller boxes on alternating corners of the frame. These boxes are alternately placed on the corners so that their openings rotate around the form. Thus, there are no two boxes that are directly next to each other nor do their openings lie on the same side. Using the same method of connecting as used with the large squares (notching out and sliding an adjoining piece in) three of the smaller squares and two sides of the bigger squares will create the boundary of the box. Like in the main structure, each of the smaller squares must overlap each other and create extending boundaries from the connections. Therefore, the edges of the overall ‘box’ are only defined by the extending edges of the smaller boxes and internal frame.

In its finished state, a very complex figure is formed out of sixteen simple pieces. These are no more than just a flat square. Yet by joining them together and allowing them to intersect, sixteen simple pieces have created a single, complex figure. At first glance, the box is a maze of lines and planes. Yet upon further review, it easily seen that the box is nothing more than a number of simple squares. Still examining further finally leads to the discovery of the original, continuous single line design. And only out of simplicity can this much complexity be created.

The Production of a Whirligig
When faced with the challenge of designing and producing something that is unfamiliar to the designer, there are many issues that will arise. In this case, we as designers were asked to create a whirligig. Personally, I have never even considered the mechanics of a whirligig. All that I knew it to be was an object that would operate in the wind. Therefore, it would have some sort of wind catching device, which in turn would create a series of actions or movements. As far as the design of such a machine goes, there is not much too it. Basically, whatever I could dream up would be possible on paper. But in this case, we as designers are asked to build what we have designed. Thus, the challenge begins.

For myself, I was limited to what was possible. I don’t have the necessary experience, the much-needed tools and equipment, nor the required precision that is needed for a machine like this. I was starting with a blank slate. So the first issue to solve was to understand the mechanics behind a whirligig. The first and possibly the most important part of a whirligig is a wind catching device. Based on common sense, I knew it would have to be lightweight, aerodynamic, and capable of capturing the slightest of breezes. Since I would not be able to machine such an instrument, I had to consider ordinary, everyday objects that had these qualities. This is when I considered the use of an egg. An egg, when hollowed out, would be the lightest, most aerodynamic object that I could think of. I figured if I could remove a portion of the shell, thus exposing the interior, and figure out some way to attach it to the arm of a propeller, an ordinary egg would be perfect. But this was not as easy as I imagined. The risk involved was extremely great. In order to cut only a small, precise portion of the shell off, many precautions would have to be taken; this was discovered only after many eggs wound up cracked and unusable. So when my first design of operation failed, I was forced to develop a better, more efficient way to manage this task. I first prepared the eggs by coating them with many layers of a clear coat seal. This, I figured, would give the shell the extra bonding strength needed to hold together. To remove the portion of the shell, I tapped many pin-sized holes along the line to be cut. Then, with a fine tooth hand saw, I slowly scored the line around the shell. Eventually, when the surface was scored enough, I was able to pull off the top and remove the contents of the egg. Then I cleaned and dried the shell, and to further strengthen it, I sprayed the inside and outside with multiple coats of white spray paint. Although the shell was now ready for attachment, the risk was, and still is not over with. Because of the nature of an eggshell, it is extremely fragile and it can, and will break if the slightest pressure is applied in the wrong way.

The next challenge was figuring out a way to attach the eggshells to an arm and then to a center axle in which they could spin on. Once again, the key here was lightweight and precision crafted parts. For this I was able to find a large rubber washer to fit around the opening of the egg. I used epoxy to fasten the shell to the washer, and then, with a hollow aluminum rod, I created the arm that would connect to the axle. This part was easy enough, but the axle would be the most important piece. It would have to be able to spin freely, hold the four arms of the wind catchers, and be light enough so as not to give the center of gravity too much weight. After a lot of searching, I found the perfect piece. It was a brass stem connection to an old faucet handle. Although the way I used it was clearly not its intent, nothing could have worked quite as good.

So now that I had the wind catching device constructed, I had to design something to work off of this motion. By using a series of gears, I could create an action, based off of the initial reaction from the wind, and it could be set away from the center where the wind catcher is, as opposed to just having something spin with the eggs. For this, I would need a series of gears that would not only be lightweight and precise, but also proportional to each other so that when one spins, so would the others. I thought that the lightest gear would be one made of thin wire. But in order for these to be precise, I had to control the production and reduce the inaccuracies. The jig that I created for this was simply a series of bolts which the wire could be wrapped around and formed. But this just created a whole mess of problems. First of all, when the gear was removed from the jig, the wire would bend out of shape and curl into a bowl form. From here, all precision was lost when I would attempt to bend the wire back to a flat form. In addition to this problem, I had to find a way to connect the two ends of the wire and complete the circle of the gear. Neither epoxy nor solder would stand up to the pressure created when I tried to bend the gear flat. So this issue was really never solved. Finally, the last problem with my homemade gears was creating a center axis for them to spin on. I tried connecting wires around a bearing in the center, I tried continuing the wire from the gear and looping it into the center, and I tried fitting a solid form inside the gear and then using its center as the axis. But none of these things would work. Mainly, there was just too much imprecision involved. This is the point where I felt the risk of making my own gears was just too great and would not work.

So now I was forced to find a premanufactured piece that could serve as a gear. I experimented with saw blades, but found that the curved teeth would just get bound up on the adjacent gear. I experimented with cutting a CD and leaving just the teeth of a gear, but the material of the CD would only shatter and become jagged. I tried to use toy gears, but I found that these were too limited to their one size and shape. So finally, I came across a series of different sized, but proportional bike gears. These were lightweight, extremely precise, and already fitted with a center axis (although I had to reduce this with washers and bearings to fit to my scale). In addition to the bike gears, I rigged a small lawnmower air filter to act as the initial gear. This was connected to the wind catching device and had brass wires, bent and epoxied to it. Thus, when the wind spun the axle, this gear spun too, and the bike gears would spin off of this.

So now I had the wind catching device, the center axle, and the gears. All that was left was piecing them together and finishing the form. Continuing with my idea of using premanufactured pieces, but for a different use than was intended, I was able to find a variety of pieces to complete my machine. Using steel rods, copper and nylon tees, bronze and nylon bearings, and steel and rubber washers, I configured a setup that allowed each gear to interact with the next and create the final movement, a small wooden mannequin to spin on his hands.

Through a series of experiments, trial and error, and a plethora of premanufactured pieces, my whirligig came together. During the design process, when one concept didn’t work, I was forced to tweak it, or take a completely new approach at it. Some ideas of my design were unworkable based on my extreme limitations of production. Thus, my final design had to be based on something that would work under the conditions I was faced with, as well as the limitations of my own workmanship. When risk was a factor, I addressed it from every angle possible. Some of these angles worked, while others faltered. Overall, I managed to create a working machine using the skills of my own workmanship and the precision of others.