How do you make a strong tower out of newspaper?

A surprisingly strong structure can be created by rolling the newspaper into tight tubes. Then bundle and lash them together to form composite cylinders. A 12 inch tall composite cylinder 6 inches in diameter can easily and safely support the weight of an adult human.

Begin by dividing each full sheet of newspaper into halves. Use 4 halves to roll each tube. Start rolling the first sheet across the narrow end which is about 12 inches in width. Roll as tightly as you can and stop about 4 inches from the end. At this point insert another half sheet on top of the unrolled end and continue rolling. This weaves the sheets together. Continue until you have rolled all 4 sheets together. Secure the loose ends with tape. Repeat the process until you have enough tubes to bundle into composite cylinder. Usually about 30-40. Use tape or string to bind the tubes together. The tower can be progressively built taller by adding additional bundles, one on top of the other.

A fairly rigid and tall tower can be built using the same tube rolling technique, but with a different design. Instead of bundling the tubes together, connect the tubes end-to-end by rolling 4 layers of paper halves around the joint of two tubes. It is like joining two pieces of PVC pipe together with a union fitting. Create multiple building units in this manner. Then by removing one of the tubes from a unit, it can be connected to another unit by sliding in an end tube from that unit. Using this technique, create 3 ladder type components connected at each joint by a cross member tube lashed in with string. Then lash these three components together to form a triangular cross-section tower. Use string to cross brace sections. This structure can easily support several physics books.