Originally our group intended to build our models using four materials: plywood planks, wooden dowels, a notched wooden base, and cotton twine. The dowels, planks, and base would be compression elements, while the twine would hold everything in tension. We brought this concept to Professor Castellón, who suggested reducing the number of elements.

In the end we used five homogenous compression modules assembled from five-by-three inch plywood planks with wooden dowels affixed to one face, and a cotton twine string that holds the model in tension. The twine is threaded through two holes drilled in each end of the board.