Be a Toothpick Architect: Geometry and Jorge Pardo’s Folly

Keywords: Architecture, Design, Geometry, Math, STEM, STEAM

Students will construct their own structures from toothpicks and modeling clay inspired by Jorge Pardo’s Folly. In this lesson, students explore Jorge Pardo’s Folly either in person or virtually. Students then create simple toothpick and clay structures and imagine themselves walking into and interacting with their own miniature folly.

Objectives:

• Students will use geometric vocabulary to describe shapes and forms that they see.
•  Students will achieve a creatively constructed 3-dimensional object while playfully investigating spatial and physical limitations of their structures.

Essential Questions:

•  How do artists take inspiration from other artists to create their own designs?
•   How do some artworks incorporate math and geometry?