3D Design

Rindge frame in flight

This 3D file is of the outdoor pavilion built by the Guild as a workshop project at the 1993 Eastern Conference, held at Franklin Pierce College, Rindge, New Hampshire. The Franklin Pierce Pavilion was built as an object lesson in resource efficiency, using a combination of native and "imported" lumber (from the west coast), recycled timber, and, as a new wrinkle, manufactured material in the form of Timberstrand.

The design of the pavilion is an equally interesting story. After early low pitch truss roofs failed to clear the engineering hurdle, the design team met over dinner at Joy Wah's, a restaurant overlooking the Connecticut River in Bellows Falls, Vermont. The presence of an unlimited supply of chopsticks for tabletop frame model building had (as you can see from the drawing) a significant effect on the finished product.

Nacogdoches gazebo

The second 3D file shows the octagonal gazebo built in 1994 by the Guild for Sterne Park in Nacogdoches, Texas. The gazebo includes cypress posts and recycled yellow pine in the roof trusses. Its octagonal structure was based on some sketchy information that an eight-sided structure once existed on the site.

Regarding the park itself, the site was once owned by Sam Houston, a local hero of the War for Texas Independence (from Mexico, not the U.S.). He gave it to his friend for whom the park is named on the anniversary of their shared birthday. The property was used as a public gathering area for many years, but it fell into disuse and became a vacant city lot, occupied by trucks and trailers awaiting rental.

Several local groups assisted with many aspects of the project, including Historic Nacogdoches, Inc., whose members provided the funds for all materials, and the Kiwanis Club, whose members installed the roof after the class.

To view these 3D files, you will need a VRML browser or helper/plugin. There are lots available free on the Net. If you don't have one, the easiest thing to do is to download Netscape 3.0 with Live/3D plugin or Microsoft Explorer 3.0 and add Microsoft's VRML support at the same site. Netscape is the easier of the two because if you download the full version of Netscape, you will automatically have the 3D plugin. If you get the 3D image but you don’t know how to navigate through it, you can get help by clicking the right mouse button.

File format

These files are provided courtesy of Guild member Ed Levin in AutoCad DXF format. We converted each file to VRML with software available free on the Web.