Architectural Lessons from a Cardboard Boat Team Project, Spring 2017 - 2019
My father, the best teammate I have ever had, is probably the main reason that I felt I could successfully pursue Architecture. He is a mechanical engineer and designer extraordinaire. I have always relished any opportunity to work on a project with him, whether it is a small repair in the house, or taking on the daunting task of building a boat entirely out of cardboard. Sometimes he takes a little convincing though, he is busy like any other human. However, the Spring of 2017 I was bored and I wanted to take on a project with my dad. But, we ran into a problem, he wasn’t entirely convinced that he wanted to build a cardboard boat for the upcoming fundraiser. After all, the first one he built had won the Titanic Award for best sinking. . . But dad had in his mind that he could make a boat entirely out of cardboard (no glue, no tape, no paint, no caulk) even though other materials were allowed. I on the other hand wanted to make a ship resembling the one from “How to Train Your Dragon 2” with the elegant sails and brightly painted decals. We were at an impasse, and it seemed as though dad was content to just not build a boat at all. So, what did I do? I told dad that I wanted to build his boat idea, and almost immediately got to work studying paper folding techniques and researching where we could find the biggest cardboard boxes. Now before we get any farther into the story I should clarify, the boat design and planning were my fathers, I pitched ideas and gave creative input, but it was him who came up with the study models on how we would even accomplish such a feat. So why include this in my portfolio? Well, I consider this project a hands-on research assignment that taught me skills in model making, diagramming, and material analysis. It was a class in the art of cardboard and I got to study under the best teacher. So here are the lessons I learned from building a cardboard boat.
Lesson 01: Never underestimate materials
When most people think of the combination of water and cardboard, they think of a soggy mess. Cardboard boxes are notorious for getting wet and then when someone tries to pick them up, the whole bottom just falls out. A typical race across the lake that we would be competing on takes less than three minutes. This meant that we needed our boat to stay water resistant at least for five minutes.
To test the resistance of the cardboard, we filled a basic cardboard box with water, and
started the timer. Five minutes into the test and our box was showing no signs of deterioration. At around twelve minutes we knew that the cardboard would definitely be able to cross the lake sans sealant; so we began to start adding stress to the box by shaking and pulling at it, but still it held strong. With our test in mind we built a three-layered hull. This was to add structural redundancy and prevent leaks.
(Triple Hull Design to Increase Water Resistance)
Lesson 02: Joinery
How does one even assemble a boat entirely out of cardboard? At the scale we were building at, just using creases and folds would not be enough to keep the boat from falling apart. There was also the concern that any puncture in the boat immediately became a week point and an area that could not be re-sealed. This meant that none of the points of joinery could be exposed to water. Our main assembly technique was inspired by Chinese takeout boxes which consist of one piece of cardboard
that is folded and pinned in two locations. Making and using cardboard pins to keep a structure as large as ours together would have been difficult, so we opted to stitch the components of the boat together. Most of the stitching on the boat is a simple running stitch, as can be seen in the image above.
