In 2002 the Big Idea science centre (Irvine) asked us to develop a show about structures and construction.
The Construct-o-mania show used large scale props to explain the science of forces, stress, strain, building design and fabrication, and used 'fair tests' to compare and contrast a variety of structures. These included a giant foam arch to be built by the audience, collapsible cable stay and suspension bridges and a huge honeycomb structure made from 500 cardboard tubes.
The audience's knowledge of stress, strain and forces was put to the test at the end of the show when one of them was challenged to sit on a chair of nails and explain why it didn't hurt.
Unfortunately, the Big Idea has since shut down.