Dougong Canopy

Our team agreed that we liked the aesthetic of the Japanese stacked beam systems and would like to reflect that in our first pass of the pavilion design. I thought that a combination of the stacked beams with thin cluster columns (that are braced around their midpoint) might make for an interesting pavilion that feels lightweight but is also structurally sound.

The canopy design was built to cover a 25’ square area. This is supported by a cluster of (4) 4”x4” columns and additional 4”x4” columns at the corners. All the connections can be hidden from view.

The design isn’t entirely successful, as we did not anticipate how quickly the stacked members would pile on top one another. However, the exercise was a good way to experiment with the Japanese bracketing tactic.