Practical 2 - Blog 3

Hello everyone! In this practical, we were tasked with creating a structure/design using cardboard. We had to use at least 6 of the different joinery of cardboard, and my team decided to design a treehouse. Continue scrolling to see how we managed to construct it! 😋

1. The design

This was the design that we wanted to base our treehouse on. We thought that it would be manageable to incorporate as many joineries as we could into the design. And with all of our joint efforts, this was our final product: 

                                                      (can you spot me in this photo? 😎)

2. The process 

We decided the split the work in order to save time and increase our efficiency as a team. Cheryl and Tristan would make the tree trunk and its branches, while Ruba, Alvin, and I would work on the house.

The house: 

First, we made the structure of the house using L-brace as the walls of the house. 

We managed to get a near-perfect cut thanks to Ruba's awesome cardboard-cutting skills!

To add some spice to our house, we included a door and windows on the front of the house, and gave it a roof!

While Alvin and Ruba worked on constructing the roof and the door/windows, I decided to make a windmill to be placed on the roof of the house. I poked holes in each of the windmill blades and used a fastener to join them all together. This will also allow them to spin👀

Tree trunk and branches: 

For the tree trunk, we made use of the flange to give it a cylindrical shape.

Next, we used the mini saw to slice parts of the trunks to be used as inserts for the branches. 

We used slots and tabs for the branches so that we could place "leaves" on them. 

To make our treehouse more inviting, we used wires to create a mini swing at the side of the house! 

Since my team agreed that the idea of a treehouse would be exciting and we were able to split the work and fulfill our roles, there were no disagreements. We also communicated with each other frequently so that all of us were aware of what the other person was doing, and gauge which stage of the construction process they should be at. 

Learning Reflection:

This experience opened my eyes to the versatility of cardboard and how I could use it to construct almost anything I want. Originally, I only saw cardboard to be useful as packaging for storing the items that I had ordered online. However, I now know how I am able to make use of different joineries to create different structures. 

Additionally, I was able to put my creative thinking skills to the test as my team and I had to think of how we were going to include at least 6 different joineries into our treehouse. This allowed me to develop some technical skills as well, like learning how to slice the cardboard properly and efficiently without any risks. 

We were also given a sheep cardboard structure to analyze its different joineries and how we could implement it in the structure we made. Here is what I found interesting: 

Going forward, I hope I will be able to make use of the creative skills that I have learned to create even more exciting things in this module!  I will be able to think of many more interesting designs and eventually make them. 

I hope you had fun reading about what I did during my second practical. 'Till next time!😋