This project involved us working in pairs to construct an earthquake resistant building out of spaghetti and Blu-tack. We had to use the design thinking process to research, test and evaluate our project. Our building had to withstand a shaking table for ten seconds. Our building also had to be at least 60cm tall and could have a base no bigger than 30cm squared.

We started by researching the different designs of earthquake resistant buildings, then we brainstormed different design ideas in order to craft the best product possible and make a stable design. Next we worked out how much spaghetti and Blu-tack we needed and whether it would fit our budget. After this, we started constructing our first prototype, our building was pretty stable but there were still a few changes we could make to help it be more durable. After we tested our product, we made a few more changes such as, adding a better base and fixing any broken pieces. Once we had made these changes, we tested our building again and we were happy with the results. Next time we would be more open to trying different shapes after our first prototype as it stayed pretty consistent and it would offer more variety.

My group partner was Stephanie, we allocated roles at the start of the project, and I think that we stuck to our roles and listened to each other. We kept each other accountable and made sure that we each completed any work that we needed to. We followed all the team rules that we made and were respectful towards each other as well as the equipment. We decided to distribute most of the roles between the two of us so that we can gain each other’s insight on different ideas.