TITLE:
Arising Student Consciousness Regarding Structural Properties of Natural Materials with a Structural Challenge Employing Arundo Donax
AUTHORS:
Luisa Molari
KEYWORDS:
Arundo Donax, Students, Challenge, Structural Study and Design
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.10 No.6,
June
18,
2019
ABSTRACT: All our actions claim now sustainable choices, and radical changes in materials need to be made. In this perspective there is the awareness that nature can helptoprovideviable solutions. In particular, the choice of natural materials for structures, perfectly optimized by the structural point of view, can be made. In this paper an experimental teaching experience regarding the structural behaviour of Arundo Donaxreed, made in a Structural course ofDesignoftheIndustrialProductof the University of Bologna, is reported. Arundo Donax has been firstly characterized from the mechanical point of view and then used in a structural challenge focusing on the best use of a given quantity of reed for a “bridge type structure” with fixed span and width. The main goals of the course were, on one hand (with mechanical characterization of Arundo), to give students sensitiveness on strength and stiffness of the material, on the other (with the structural challenge) wereto make the student think about the combination of material properties and shape of constructions to reach the best structural performances.