A 3-piece structure, with geometric shapes made up by individual panels and window cutouts, stood firmly against the wind in Poly Canyon on April 24, ready to house students for the overnight Design Village competition. 

But this structure was unique in that it was built entirely our of C-Flute corrugate, also known as corrugated fiberboard, which is typically used for shipping boxes because it is compressible and resists crushing.

“Paper is a lot stronger than you think,” industrial technology and packaging (ITP) senior Tracy Liu said. “It’s kind of surprising.” 

Design Village is an annual competition hosted by the Cal Poly architecture program, where students design and build structures to live in throughout the weekend. ITP used to enter a structure into Design Village before the pandemic, but this is the first time ITP students are making a structure entirely out of corrugate.

For this year’s Design Village, the theme was resilience, which is defined by the ability to withstand or recover from difficulty. The Industrial Designers Society of America Student Chapter at Cal Poly wanted to use the C-Flute corrugate to emphasize the importance of using short-term materials for short-term living. 

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The idea was to provide an idea for more affordable housing options for unhoused people or those who need a temporary structure. The structure was made up of C-Flute corrugate panels that could be constructed like a large 3D puzzle to create a livable structure. The structure could be rebuilt and could be repaired without tools. 

“It’s kind of challenging the status quo of what we can use for building materials and by showing that packaging has a role in designing our products, it really reminds us how versatile how these products are,” said Logan Ruby, ITP junior and project lead. “Currently out there, a lot of materials, such as tent equipment and short-term buildings, are really energy expensive and intense and usually don’t last that long,”

Led by Ruby, the team had been working on the structure for two months. The team consisted of six ITP majors and one engineering major.  Ruby thinks the project challenges how people design, saying the world is in a spot right now where humans want to see something new.

“I think pitching an idea like this, breaking away from wood and steel and being in a space where those ideas are encouraged, I think really is a great opportunity and it shows that it’s not just architects that are leading the charge of design, and the students from the business college can do it as well,” Ruby said.

For Liu, in her last year at Cal Poly, this was the first time she was involved in Design Village.

“I’m surprised that an ITP major like me could be able to participate in a build event like this,” Liu said.

Because corrugated board is easier to build with, the team had more time to brainstorm the design. 

“It’s an interesting material to work with,” ITP junior Bradley Resler said. “Learning how to work with the corrugate in the ways that it’s strong has been an exercise in thoughtful design.”

The team went through some failed ideas before they settled on their final design. 

At first, for ITP freshman Amani Dewar, it was a little hard when they had an idea they all liked that failed.

“So, then we had to start over again. But I’m really happy with the design we have now. I think it’s going to be really cool,” Dewar said. 

Through the project, Dewar learned about the material corrugated board.

“I never would have imagined we could build a whole structure out of corrugated board.” Dewar said. “I’ve learned so much about the strength of the material, the different properties of the material, the different types of corrugated and it’s just so nerdy and so fun in such a good way.”

The structure also had an awning for sunshade cover and a constellation effect on the inside.

“I think it’s really been awesome just to give everyone the opportunity to really show that we’re not just a major that’s here just to get the degree and get out, but people are really dedicated to working hard and really showing that this is a team of designers, people who want to reinvent what we use current materials for,” Ruby said.

Top photo: from left to right: Logan Ruby, Amani Dewar, Bradley Resler

See more photos in this slide gallery. (Photos: Jahan Ramezani)