Fascinated by the many tensegrity structures shown on twitter #tensegrity, we decided to have a go at the most primitive and fast little tensegrity test. And well, we just had a big piece of cardboard lying round.
Materials needed:
- Some cardboard, in our case about 50 x 60 cm
- Glue, or better, hot glue (we didnt have any)
- Tape
- Needle and thread
- Some books or other pieces to stabilize (gatefold vinyls would do a great job if you went for 30 cm height)
- Scissors and razorblade or other tools to cut
Cut two pieces for base and top, and two long ones as “sticks” (long pieces of cardboard folded along their length).
Cut the “sticks” in 45 degree angles as shown. Cut angle holes into base and top, as shown.
Insert the sticks and glue them. Allow to dry.
When dry, place the bottom and top pieces as shown, with books as support. With everything in place like that, use needle and thread to create the four outer connections. We started at one bottom corner, running thread 2-3 times through the bottom, then up, along the top of the top piece, then down, under the bottom piece, up again, and so on. 
Use glue and tape to keep in place. Allow to dry.
When dry, and with the books still in place, or held by hand, sew the middle piece of thread in between the two “sticks”. Try to give it good tension.
And you are done.
Ours was a very quick test. What was not perfect?
Tension of the threads was not tight enough, so it couldn’t bear more than perhaps 500 grams.
Next model will use wood and nylon thread, and be done with hot glue pistol instead. But it was a fun and quick test!
