Gigantic, tilting lanterns in the shape of building columns and wooden benches suspended from 30-foot-long ropes were among the 57 projects recently presented by Cal Poly architecture students.

The assignment tasked students with devising and building the structures as part of the university’s beginning design class for freshmen.

Teams of three or four created the mostly decorative projects that draped the school’s three-story College of Architecture and Environmental Design.

Wire cables connected to nearby trees, extending into an intricate display of wood and sheet metal attached to a drainage pole.

An illuminated love seat-style bench with a roof made of acrylic sheet metal provided a fluorescent nesting spot at night. Several faculty members collaborated on the project that assigned students with modeling, sketching and building.

Freshmen Joanne Kim, Nicholas Krause, Eli Beckman and Camille Vantalon worked together on a pine structure with prongs resembling massive spider legs that gently swayed from a railing.

Rays of sunlight passed through gaps in the leg-like structures, attached to each of a handful of railings.

“The work these students are doing is extremely beautiful,” said Michael Austin Lucas, the professor who helped organize the assignment. “They’ve really used light well and created beautiful shadows.”

Lucas said that the students received workshop training in the fall on using power tools, which served them well for this project.

The group that Lucas highlighted spent dozens of hours on the project, learning how to work together.

Faculty wanted students to design their projects with spatial complexities in mind, and to make them figure out how to attractively enhance the site.

The assignment involved building without damaging an existing building, with an emphasis on recycling materials upon removal.

The project included building components that dangled from the side of a three-story building.

“Finishing this gave us a great sense of accomplishment,” Eli Beckman said of their third-story structure. “Installing this was quite difficult, but we’d do it again.”