CON_STRUCTURE Moveable Estates looks at the specific problem of a changing environment. The world around us is always changing, sometimes in ways that don’t affect us too much, or that we’re used to (like it getting darker at night, or getting colder when winter comes around), but sometimes in more dramatic ways that we weren’t expecting, like a global pandemic. We are constantly responding to those changes in our environment, turning lights on when it gets dark, putting more clothes on when it gets cold, everyone staying at home when there’s a pandemic. This is a challenge to explore construction techniques and structural possibilities using limited materials and simple connections. Using the paper straws and some connecting material, that you can find around your house, such as: tape, blue tac, string, tin foil, wire, pins, or rubber bands. Construct a structure, you can set your own challenge, which could be:T 4 To construct the tallest structure possibleS 4 To construct the strongest structure you canS 4 To construct a structure to span the widest spaceS 4 To construct the most beautiful structure You can also add some items from around the house if you like. Feel free to make your own rules and push the limits of whatever you do. If it falls down or fails, don’t worry, you’ve learned about the boundaries of the materials. Paper straws have their own limitations, and this exercise is about exploring them. We have to work within rules and limitations every day. They might be rules that someone else has made for us (like the government) or rules like the laws of science, or rules that we have made up for ourselves. While you are designing and making think about:T 4 How things fit togetherS 4 Economy of materialsS 4 Elegance Look around you for inspiration. All artists, architects, and designers have to work within limitations too. Some of them are external and decided by others, like the budget for a project, or the site where the building will be and the context of its surroundings, or the purpose of whatever they decide to make. And some of the limitations are decided by the artist or designer themselves, they might choose to only work with recycled materials, or to celebrate the structure by putting it on the outside of the building. Lots of interesting designs started out by playing around with models and testing ideas. Try searching for pavilions, structures, modular systems and see where it takes you. There’s an instructional video to give you some ideas of how to get started, and also showing you some ideas for research.