Thames & Kosmos Architectural Engineering Bedienungsanleitung

EXPERIMENT MANUAL

Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG, Pfizerstr. 5-7, 70184 Stuttgart, Germany | +49 (0) 711 2191-0 | www.kosmos.de

Thames & Kosmos, 301 Friendship St., Providence, RI, 02903, USA | 1-800-587-2872 | www.thamesandkosmos.com

Thames & Kosmos UK LP, 20 Stone Street, Cranbrook, Kent, TN17 3HE, UK | 01580 713000 | www.thamesandkosmos.co.uk

Anchor pin lever

When you want to take your model apart again, you will need

the anchor pin lever. Use the narrow end of the lever (A side) to

remove the anchor pins from rods and flexible rods.

Use the wide end of the lever (B side) to pry pieces apart, as

shown with the two-to-one converter here.

You can also use the A side of the lever to push pieces apart

through holes, as shown with the two-to-one converter here.

› › › IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Safety Information

Warning! Not suitable for children under 3 years. Choking hazard

— small parts may be swallowed or inhaled. Strangulation

hazard — long flexible rods may become wrapped around the

neck.

Store the experiment material and assembled models out of the

reach of small children.

Keep packaging and instructions as they contain important

information.

Assembly Tips

Dear Parents and Supervising Adults,

Before starting the experiments, read through the instruction

manual together with your child and discuss the safety

information. Check to make sure the models have been

assembled correctly. Assist your child with the experiments,

especially with reading the assembly diagrams and putting

pieces together that may require more dexterity or hand

strength than the child currently possesses.

We hope you and your child have a lot of fun with the

experiments!

Anchor pins and connectors

Take a careful look at the different components. The small

pieces, especially the two different lengths of gray anchor pins,

can all look pretty similar at first glance. When you assemble

the models, it’s important to use the right ones.

Flexible rods

The flexible rods are a key feature of this engineering kit. There

are two lengths: 5-hole and 7-hole. They can be twisted and

bent into many different shapes.

You can connect the flexible rods together end to end with the

two-to-one converters to make longer lengths. It’s easier to do

this if you lay the rods on a flat surface and press the two-to-

one converter down into the holes.

Do not fold the flexible rods and crease the folds. They will be

permanently deformed if they are bent too much. Do not remove

the anchor pins by twisting or pulling the flexible rods.

Half-hexagon connectors

The angle between the two pegs on the half-hexagon connector

is 120°. With three of these and three rods of the same length,

you can make an isosceles triangle.

See the inside back cover of this manual for tips on resetting

deformed flexible rods and adjusting the flexible rods to look

perfect in the models.

There are two types of new “FLEXIBLE ROD” : 5 holes and 7 holes, which own both

rigid and ﬂexible characteristics.

120°

The “FLEXIBLE ROD” can become any shape like O shape, C

shape or U shape.

A side

B side

A side

Do not bend the “FLEXIBLE ROD” excessively.

No. Description Qty. Item No.

Short anchor pin, gray  WCS

Long anchor pin, gray  WCS

Two-to-one converter, white  WGW

-hole connector, white  WBW

-degree converter Y, white WYW

Button pin, white  WWW

Curved rod, white WVW

-hole wide rounded rod, white WCW

Half-hexagon connector, white  WBW

 -hole rod, white  -W-KW

 -hole flat rounded rod, white  WCW

 -hole flat rounded rod, white  WCW

 -hole cross rod, white W CW

 -hole rod, white WPW

 -hole dual rod, white WZW

 Tube,  mm, white  WGW

 Axle,  mm, black  -W-QD

 Hexagonal hub connector, gray WAS

 -hole flexible rod, white  -W-AW

 -hole flexible rod, white  -W-AW

 Anchor pin lever WBY

 Die-cut cardboard sheet K#

What’s inside your experiment kit:

Checklist: Find – Inspect – Check oﬀ

234

› › › KIT CONTENTS

GOOD TO KNOW !

If you are missing any parts, please contact

Thames  Kosmos customer service.

US: techsupport@thamesandkosmos.com

UK: techsupport@thamesandkosmos.co.uk



625416-02-020419

5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Geckobot



› › › TABLE OF CONTENTS

Important Information and Assembly Tips ................. Inside front cover

Kit Contents....................................................................................................... 

Table of Contents............................................................................................. 

What Is Architectural Engineering? ............................................................. 

Models of Basic Architectural Elements:

Square and braced square .................................................................................. 4

Cylinder and braced cylinder ............................................................................ 5

Flexed triangle and convex polyhedron ........................................................ 6

Forces and Loads ............................................................................................. 

Triangle and triangular prism ........................................................................... 8

Square and rectangular prism .......................................................................... 9

Flat pentagon ....................................................................................................... 10

Dome made of pentagons ................................................................................ 11

Flat and bowed triangles, and simple arch ................................................ 12

Form and Function......................................................................................... 

Intersecting arches ............................................................................................. 14

Shell ........................................................................................................................ 15

Roman arch ...........................................................................................................16

Models of Buildings:

Wrought-Iron Laice Tower ............................................................................. 17

Giant Catenary Arch .......................................................................................... 21

Ferris Wheel .......................................................................................................... 23

About the Eiﬀel Tower, Gateway Arch, and High Roller ....................... 

Giant Dome ........................................................................................................... 28

Olympic Stadium ................................................................................................ 30

Neo-Futuristic Skyscraper ............................................................................... 34

About the Riechstag Dome,  St Mary Axe,

and Beijing National Stadium ............................................................... 

High-Tech Hotel ................................................................................................... 38

Concrete Shell Performance Center............................................................... 41

About the Sydney Opera House and Burj Al Arab ................................. 

Engineering Design Challenges ...................................................................... 44

More Assembly Tips ........................................................... Inside back cover

Publisher’s Information .................................................... Inside back cover

TIP!

At the top of each model assembly page, you will ﬁnd a red bar:

››› It shows how diﬃcult the model’s assembly will be:

easy medium hard

WHAT IS DESIGN

Architects and engineers use the word “design” to describe what

they do. Design is a sequence of steps that are used to take an

idea from concept to reality. The engineering design process is

iterative, meaning steps can be repeated multiple times and then

improvements can be made each time, until the correct or optimal

outcome is achieved.

ENGINEERING

DESIGN PROCESS

IDENTIFY

NEEDS AND

CONSTRAINTS

DEVELOP

POSSIBLE

SOLUTIONS

BUILD A

PROTOTYPE

IMPROVE

DESIGN

TEST AND

EVALUATE

PROTOTYPE

Architecture is the art and science of designing buildings and spaces that humans use.

Engineering is the application of science and math to the design, creation, and use of just

about anything humans make. Architectural engineering refers to the engineering aspects

of architecture. An architectural engineer uses engineering principles to design buildings.

Architects plan, design, and manage the construction of a building. The primary focus of

an architect is to design a building to meet the needs of the users or occupants.

Architectural engineers focus on the design of a building’s systems including its structural

systems; its heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (or HVAC for short) systems; and its

plumbing, ﬁre protection, electrical, and lighting systems. Architectural engineers use

new materials and technologies, like computer modeling. They balance factors like cost,

time, and quality to make decisions. Architects work with architectural engineers to make

their designs become reality.

In this kit, you will learn about some of the design elements and structural components

of buildings with hands-on projects.

Engineering?

What Is

Architectural



Architectural Engineering

1 2

EXPERIMENT

HERE’S HOW

With the square ﬂat

on a table, hold one

corner of the square

in one hand and try to

deform it by moving

the opposite corner. Does

the square deform? Also try bending one

corner of the square upward from the table

while holding the other corner. Does it bend?

Stability of a square

Done!

WHAT’S HAPPENING

When you are pushing or pulling on the corner of the square, you are

applying a force, or load, to the structure. A goal of architectural

engineering is to achieve the stability of a structure under diﬀerent

loads. All structures will change shape to some degree when loads

act on them. In a stable structure, the changes in shape, or

deformations, are small, and forces within the structure return the

structure to its original shape after the load is removed.

In an unstable structure, the changes in shape are large and usually

increase as long as the forces are applied. An unstable structure

does not have the internal forces required to restore the structure to

its original shape. Is the square a stable or unstable structure?

Not only is the structural shape unstable, but the ﬂexibility of the

plastic material itself makes it easy to bend.

SQUARE

BRACED SQUARE 3

EXPERIMENT

HERE’S HOW

Repeat Experiment 1 with

the braced square. How

does the braced square

react to the load?

Reinforced structures

Done!

x

4 5

WHAT’S HAPPENING

By adding the two cross pieces and connecting the two corners,

you made the square model into a much more stable structure.

The cross pieces lock the angle of the other rods. When you

push on the corner of the square, you can feel the model

move a lile bit. As you stop pushing on it, you can feel it

return to its original shape. It’s also signiﬁcantly more

resistant to bending. However, you used more material to

achieve this. That is called a trade-oﬀ in engineering.



Architects need their buildings to be

structurally stable and to remain

standing despite the all the loads that

act on them. Let’s build some simple

models and conduct simple experiments

with them to show how connecting

structural elements together in diﬀerent

ways can aﬀect the strength and

stability of a structure.

CYLINDER

BRACED CYLINDER

EXPERIMENT

HERE’S HOW

Build the cylinder

and then the

braced cylinder.

Push down on

each model with

your hand. What

do you notice?

Reinforced structures

Done!

x

x x

6 7

WHAT’S HAPPENING

When you added the braces, you

made the cylinder much more

resistant to deformation. Even

the ﬂexible plastic rods become

more rigid when connected like

this. It’s partly thanks to

triangles. Continue to the next

page to ﬁnd out more.



Architectural Engineering

Architects want to design buildings in

all sorts of diﬀerent shapes and sizes

to meet the needs to the inhabitants

and users of the spaces in them. Let’s

try building a simple three-

dimensional volume — a cylinder. And

then, we’ll make it more structurally

stable by adding braces to it.

CONVEX POLYHEDRON

x

FLEXED TRIANGLE

Done!

EXPERIMENT

HERE’S HOW

Push inward on the model with your hands. Is the model

fairly rigid and stable?

Rigid polyhedron

WHAT’S HAPPENING

A polyhedron is a three-dimensional shape with

many sides. Here, you made a six-sided

polyhedron out of the ﬂexed triangles. Because it

is made up of triangles, this shape is very rigid

and hard to deform.



Triangles are often said to be the strongest shapes.

They are rigid and stable. This is because a triangle

simply cannot deform into another shape as long as

its sides don’t deform. Triangles are therefore the

basis of most rigid structural frames. In this model,

you can see how when the ﬂexible rods are ﬂexed

and formed into a triangle, a strong shape results.

What happens

when you combine

many of these

ﬂexed triangles

into one 3D shape?

Tension Compression Shear Torsion Bending

CHECK IT OUT

Architectural engineers often use

ﬁve terms to describe how a load can

aﬀect a structure: tension,

compression, shear, torsion, and

bending.

Tension is any force that pulls (or

stretches) an object apart.

Compression is any force that pushes in

on (or squeezes) an object.

Shear is a force that causes parallel

internal surfaces within an object to

slide past each other.

Torsion is a force that causes the

twisting of an object due to a moment.

Bending force is a force that causes an

object to bend.

FORCES AND LOADS

A force is an interaction between objects. You can think of a

force as a push or pull on an object that changes the motion

of that object. If the object resists that motion, the object

might deform — part of the object might move relative to

another part of the object rather than the entire object

moving. Architectural engineers must analyze the forces

acting on buildings to make sure the buildings will stay

standing. Forces acting on a building are called loads.

Pull on the ﬂexible rod from both ends. It’s very strong in

tension, isn’t it?

Now push both ends together. It’s not very rigid in

compression. It buckles when you push the ends together. In

terms of shear, it’s prey resilient. And when you subject it

to torsion by twisting it, it twists.

Hold one end of the rod and push down on the middle. The

rod bends. One side of the rod is under tension and the other

side is under compression.

This is a special type of plastic that is designed to have just

the right amount of ﬂexibility for building the models in this

kit. These ﬂexible rods are used in the models to mimic steel

beams in real buildings. Like plastic, steel is incredibly

strong under tension but it isn’t so great under compression.

It will bend under too much force, but it’s very hard to pull

it apart from end to end.

Why aren’t more buildings built with plastic rods? Steel and

other metals are much more resistant to heat and less likely

to degrade under normal conditions. Steel is stronger,

harder, and more durable than plastic.

Plastic and Steel



Architectural Engineering

Loads Acting on a Building

Architects must design buildings to withstand many

diﬀerent types of loads that could pull them down or

push them over. Loads can be divided into two

categories: Dead loads and live loads.

Dead loads include the weight of the building itself

and all the permanent things installed in the building.

Gravity pulls these loads downward.

Live loads include the weight of the people, furniture,

and other objects inside the building. The snow load and

rain load — the weight of the snow or water on the roof

— are also live loads.

Some live loads act laterally on the building, instead

of pulling downward. The wind load is caused by the

wind pushing on the side of the building. The

groundwater and earth around the building’s foundation

push laterally on it. And even the load from occasional

earthquakes must be considered when designing a

strong, stable building.

Gravity LoadsGravity Loads

Snow Load

Lateral Loads

Wind Load

Water and

Earth Pressure

Earthquake

Load

Dead Load

Occupancy Load

EXPERIMENT

HERE’S HOW

Hold the top triangle in one hand and the

boom triangle in the other. Gently twist the

prism by rotating the triangles in opposite

directions. Try bending and compressing the

prism. What do you notice?

Prisms

1 2

Done!

TRIANGLE

TRIANGULAR PRISM

x

x

WHAT’S HAPPENING

You made two triangles into a prism. A prism is a 3D geometric

ﬁgure whose two end faces are similar, equal, and parallel

shapes, and whose sides are parallelograms — in other words,

sides formed with parallel lines. The triangle prism is prone to

twisting, bending, and compressing. The triangles at the ends

may be stable, but the rectangles in the middle are not as

strong. Nevertheless, countless buildings are built using

shapes like this, and due to the strength of the materials they

are made of, they are strong enough to stay standing.



Now, let’s investigate form. Form is a

very commonly used word in

architecture — it basically just means

the shape and conﬁguration of a

building. The opposite of form is space.

The space is the empty area deﬁned by

the forms of a building. Together, form

and space make up all buildings. Let’s

build some forms.

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