Lightweight Structure

Project information
Project type: Experimental Lightweight Structure
Design focus: Structural Form & Material Efficiency

Project Overview
This academic project explored the design and construction of a spanning structure using only playing cards and elastic bands. The structure could be developed either as a two-dimensional or three-dimensional system, providing considerable freedom to investigate structural form and load-bearing behaviour.

A three-dimensional dome structure was selected because of its efficient structural geometry and its ability to create a relatively large enclosed space using lightweight individual elements.

The completed dome consists of 165 members and 61 nodes. Each structural member was created by rolling a single playing card into a slender tubular element. The individual members were subsequently connected at the nodes using elastic bands, resulting in a lightweight spatial structural system assembled entirely from simple materials.

The project demonstrates how the structural behaviour and stability of a three-dimensional form can emerge through the systematic arrangement of a large number of relatively weak individual elements. By combining these elements into a spatial dome, the material is used efficiently and gains structural capacity through its overall geometry.

The exercise provided a practical exploration of structural form, spatial stability, modular construction and material efficiency, demonstrating the fundamental relationship between geometry and structural behaviour.

Deliverables
• Structural concept
• Physical scale model
• Dome geometry
• Member and node configuration
• Structural form studies
• Design documentation