Begehbarer Bogen /Walkable Arch

Stations-ID: D084

Instructions:

If you put the pieces together in the correct order, the arch will be so stable that you can stand on it.

Where can the arch bear the most weight?

•  Can you construct the arch without using a template?
• Which part is only present once?
• After constructing the arch, try pushing the pieces inwards slowly. With which parts is this possible, with which impossible?
• What would happen if the two outer pieces were not connected to the baseplate.

“Then I went, turned inwards, through the arched gate, pondering back into the city. Why, I asked myself, does the vault not sink in, even though it does not have any support? It stands, I answered, because all the stones want to collapse at once – and I drew from this thought an indescribably refreshing comfort that stayed with me till the decisive moment always with hope, that I too would be able to stand, when everything makes me sink”
– Heinrich von Kleist in a letter to Wilhelmine von Zenge