Jonathan Lansey
Description: 2003
An arch built from packaged paper goods (Toilet Paper, Paper towels
etc.) Built by Rueben and I after a couple tries.
Motivation:
We had a huge delivery to the dorm. That many big rectangular blocks
in one spot . . . they had to expect something built from it.
Analysis:
The delivery included large cardboard boxes. We supported the arch
with the boxes until the keystone was in place. Some people have called
it cheating to have used the vertical columns; the arch is not
freestanding. In real life though, non-freestanding arches are very
useful; for example bridging a canyon. The canyon walls are in place of
the columns that I had. I understand there are many places in
which steel is of short supply, but there is ample toilet paper.
Description: 2001
A Igloos built from packed snow block by my brothers, some friends and me.
Motivation:
Ample snow and a lack of school.
Analysis:
My Mom taught my brothers and I how to do this. Simply pack snow into small plastic bins, empty it and you have a brick! Do this lots of times with patience and you have an igloo! We've made five or six of them over the years. The first one we made without my moms help is shown at right (1993).
The other igloo (shown above) is the biggest. It had an electric outlet wired inside which was pretty neat. The picture at bottom left (lit by an electric lamp) shows five of the builders sitting comfortably in only the back half of the Igloo. I actually camped in it overnight and there was about two feet extra room from my head to the door.
Description: 2003
A really freestanding arch built with plastic stacking chairs (stacked in a
non conventional way). I had a lot of help for this one.
Motivation:
It was kind of a prank thing, all those chairs had
to come from somewhere (we did it in the middle of the night).
Analysis:
You can see from the picture that the chairs had all these odd sized
holes and legs, I spent some time sticking chairs together before I
found a combination that worked.
The arch began freestanding, tilting away from the middle for balance.
We didn't take off all the counterweights so you can still see some in
the picture (they are white). When we had enough layers (it was a
repeating pattern) we stuck the keystone (a couple linked chairs) in the
middle then squeezed the two ends onto the keystone. We were
nervous, but it stayed up till they took it down in the morning.