Tower of Power

December 26, 2009 12:36 PM

I'm looking for any information about observation towers like these. They make appearances at Burning Man and other such places. Is there a name for this type of tower? Do any instructions exist for building your own?

I also believe I've seen two variations on this type of tower - one with the beams extending uninterrupted from the ground to the top, and the other with a kink in the middle (like the one pictured).

Thanks

posted by daboo to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

Best answer: Tensegrity structure?
posted by rlk at 12:41 PM on December 26, 2009

Response by poster: rlk, you definitely pointed me in an interesting direction, and it seems like the other tower that I saw may have been a Tensegrity Prism, however the tower pictured doesn't appear to be relying on tensile strength.
posted by daboo at 1:34 PM on December 26, 2009

Best answer: Yes it does, at least partially. The logs connecting the ends of the uprights are under tension and the structure would fall without them. I doubt the climbing ropes are structural. At least they wouldn't have to be. It's just a more tightly twisted version of the wiki illustration.

It seems like it'd be pretty easy to build one from either of the pictures that you linked.
posted by cmoj at 2:32 PM on December 26, 2009

Looks like a Boy Scout lashing project. Maybe The Hourglass will give you some building ideas (more on building and erecting the tower here).
posted by jazon at 7:13 PM on December 26, 2009