mocking up

So last week we decided it was necessary to build a full scale mock up of the funnel part of the canopy. Using poster board as a stand in for recycled plastic panels and hundreds of rivets, the funnel slowly came into being. It was a seemingly never-ending process of file setup, laser cutting, and riveting, but it will be invaluable experience when actual construction begins. The difficult thing will be training helpers to rivet because screw-ups can be very time consuming. Still, when it was all up it looks really good. Final pics to come.

concrete corner

I'm a little behind on the blog posts so I thought I'd do a little catch up work before I start on current events. Jori suggested the necessity of a concrete corner to clean up/emphasize the corner condition and also allow for signage opportunities. Using plaster models John and I looked at different ways to integrate the corner with the crossing of the beams that we were covering by pulling the beams through the corner. We also looked at possible sitting conditions that might occur with a person leaning against the wall. We came up with a solution that we thought was minimal but effective, but the design was not too well recieved. Here are some pics.


Of course how to incorporate signage was still an issue and still is, but we felt this could allow for a number of applications. We're still looking at ways to eliminate the holes but still prevent the corner from feeling tacked on.

bamboo up and down

This past friday the group came to a consensus on a structural scheme that was simple enough to be accomplished and graceful enough to work with the canopy. Rather than trying to think our way through where the poles should occur on a piece of paper we went straight to the site for a full scale mock up. It was instantly apparent the impact this structure was going to have in creating a gathering space on the site. My only concern was the density of the poles creating an artificial forest on the site and getting in the way of performances, but it was not too bad. Returning to the site on saturday many of the poles had fallen and their were curious looks coming from all over, with the broken bamboo not doing much to assuage the doubts. Still, there was a lot of positive feedback and finally we feel like we have something that may just get built.