This tower was conceived by the exploration on the material and it’s stress and bending capabilities. The design process started out by testing the best of wood’s properties; tension. A component was created to explore the strength and limits of bending and twisting and the possibilities of clipping and holding under tensile strength. Several prototypes were created until one final component which combined the best bending and stretching behavior with simple and versatile clipping joints.

This single piece is the morpheme from which the tower is built. It’s significance though comes when it is paired with another single piece. The legs are joined top and bottom with each other to become the building block. This joined state places both pieces in tension that locks them together and becomes a strong piece that withstands tension, compression, bending, and twisting.

Finally, once the components where all assembled, we started exploring the possibilities of connections and the resulting form. This process led us to several forms, from simple stacking to create a stout, solid tower, to vertical climbing by connecting ends and using the wood’s tensile strength to tighten the structure. The shape chosen is an ode to the material and the component and the infinite possibilities that the combination of both bring forth.   Group 4 : Chirana Sumendap, Karl Francalanza, Pablo Marcet