8 students of the 2nd year of Architecture of the University, winners of the National Competition of Structures
More than 70 students participated in the competition, designing spaghetti towers that withstood "seismic" movements with up to 12 kg of weight on top.
FotoMarcosdel Pozo/Winners of the three categories of the National Competition Structures held at the School of Architecture of the University of Navarra
20 | 04 | 2021
Marieme Sandra Obama, María Fernanda de la Chiquinquirá, Sarai Natalia Alegría, Ana Etayo, Natalia Carballo, Amalia Menasanch, Elvira García and Tomás Hurtado -all 2nd year students of Degree in Architecture at the University of Navarra- were the winners of the National Competition of Structures in the modalities of design, design ETSA and structural capacity, held this weekend at School of Architecture and promoted by the companies TETRACE, FSGROUP Engineering, INGENIALMA, NABRAWIND and the high school of Industrial Technical Engineers of Navarra.
The members of the 3 winning groups each received a check for 600€ and 300€ in the case of design ETSA.
During the contest, the Structures - made of spaghetti with a 60 cm base foundation, 1 kg. in weight and a height of just over one meter - were placed in pairs on a special table that replicated the seismic movement. In this way, the less resistant Structures were eliminated until the finalists were left, to which weight was placed on top.
The winning tower withstood 12 kg and the earthquake-like oscillation movement for 38 seconds.
This competition is intended for future architects and engineers to study the skill of their Structures with respect to a gravity load with the addition of an oscillatory motion, as it happens in a real seismic event. In fact, the tests they carried out are similar to the tests performed in professional seismic engineering.
The core topic: a strong core and strong footings
For Ana Etayo Miralpeix and Amalia Manesanch Gómez - members of the winning team for the best design- the core topic of the design tower was "to propose a structure with a strong core and footings. On that foundation and that resistant core we would only need some lateral supports to distribute the structural load," say the students of subject Structural Systems.
Ángel R. Fernández López, manager of department of programs of study and development de Negocios de FSGROUP, promoter of competition, added that this contest "is an initiative of several companies in Navarra with School of Architecture to promote the technical work and the capabilities of young people in the approach and resolution of challenges such as this one".
