Spaghetti Tower

UIUC 2015 Spring Structural Studio
Team: Baifan Zhang, Chuqi Zhu, Ting Wang

First Prize in Spaghetti Tower Load Competition

Site: Champaign, IL
Date: Spring 2015

This Project intends to create a spaghetti tower using spaghetti and tacky glue to study load paths and to test load ability. The minimum ratio of loading weight and self weight and the most popular pattern design would win the first prize in this competition. Our team used the hexagon shape which includes 24 small triangular for the best structural performance and relatively small self weight. We also designed four different loading paths to create a more intriguing appearance. The reason that the tower failed is due to uneven construction issue, which means if more time and care was given, there would be a better performance.
(Tower Self-weight: 128 g Loading Weight: 38 lbs.)