Recently Brooklyn-based architect Andy Bernheimer and his sister Kate (an extensively published author of children's books and fairy tales) asked some architects and engineers to rethink popular children's fairy tales in terms of their built structures. For NYC-based firm Guy Nordenson and Associates, the story in question was the Brothers Grimm (and most famous) version of Rapunzel; in particular, its “tower that stood in a forest and had neither a door nor a stairway, but only a tiny little window at the very top." When asked about the key structural elements, the structural engineers responded, "We were able to meet the Grimms’ strict design requirements by employing a slender tower design of vertical cylindrical stems that are joined by intermittent outrigger beams with a reinforced space at the very top for Rapunzel’s long captivity." See the full rendering below.
Sketch via Design Obvserver
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