A4 Paper Spiral Elevator
Students build their own paper spiral towerCopyright Matthew Barco, Central Michigan State RET
A box company wants its new corporate headquarters designed so it looks like boxes stacked in a spiral shape. To do this, they need to know the shape of the boxes that will form each floor and where to place the elevator shaft so that any box (or “floor”) can be reached from the ground floor. Students design and build a model of the proposed building out of spiraling ISO 216 A-series paper boxes and figure out where to place the elevator shaft in a spiraling box design.
Structural or civil engineers design and plan the construction of new buildings and bridges. They also design and plan modifications and expansions of existing buildings and bridges. In the course of their work, structural engineers have to think about how to solve difficult problems introduced by an architectural vision. They need to figure out the placement of elevator shafts, support columns, and stairs. Structural or civil engineers might work with a variety of other engineers to make these design ideas come to life.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Find where the spiraling rectangles converge.
- Explore a structural design based on spiraling paper.