Weekly Response #3 - Brianna Vandervoort

            At the beginning, the thought of constructing a stool made entirely out of cardboard stressed me out. I had not used a pair of scissors nor Exacto knife for a school project since high school. However, throughout the course of the various different due dates, I found myself enjoying and even de-stressing while working on my stool. My design came to me very organically. When I was younger, I used to go backpacking with my family in the Adirondack Mountains in the summer. My dad, an avid work-worker, always loved visiting stores that sold Adirondack-style furniture. I loved the idea of creating a stool that actually looked like it could have been constructed out of sturdy, solid wood, and I wanted to include a foot rest to make it more practical. I am also always a fan of symmetry, therefore I wanted my stool to be symmetric so that it can be sat on from either direction.

            I chose a clean, simple design that focused the detail on a tight fit between the grooves. To maximize strength, I doubled up every piece of cardboard so it was essentially two-ply cardboard. Although my stool has a simple look, it surprisingly took me hours upon hours to accurately measure and cut out the grooves to ensure a tight fit. As Leland Roth articulated in Understanding Architecture, I aimed to make my structure very noticeable while not using much material and having an open stool so that one could see its “bones.”

            In terms of my progress throughout the weeks and the stool’s evolution, it ended up remaining quite similar to the first prototype, which I was happy about since I really like my Adirondack inspiration. I experimented with putting a rod through the crosses so that it would be more stable, but it ended up not improving the stability. Overall, I am very pleased with the aesthetics of the stool, however, I wish it would feel sturdier supporting more than just my weight.