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[vexxice]

I have not had any experience building structures above ground. I have dug down plenty of times but never built up. How is it done? I know about building 1 z-level walls. Can dwarves build 1 z-level up? How would I build a tower? Do I need to create temporary scaffolding to build a tall wall? Basically, in a game that is represented one layer at a time, how so players create structures? Legitimately, not with hacking programs. Any kind of help would be appreciated.

[utunnels]

You can build stairs then build wall/floors alike.

[Cptn Kaladin Anrizlokum]

You build up stairs, then when those are finished you place down stairs above them. You can build floors from there, and build a tower like that, with walls on top of each other.

So make a box of walls. Then stairs (up then down) and you can build floors from that staircase. Now build floors to cover all the empty space on that level, and build more walls over top of the old ones. Repeat for each z-level you want to go up.

[Cptn Kaladin Anrizlokum]

Can dwarves build 1 z-level up? No
Do I need to create temporary scaffolding to build a tall wall? Not unless you count stairs to the top. But a scaffolding does make it much easier...

Dwarves can only build on their level, and cannot build diagonally (meaning you need to build tower corners first).
You can build an up stair, and when it is finished you can build a down stair above it. That's the only was to go up.

[vexxice]

You see, I completely forgot that I could build floor. I feel dumb.

[Cptn Kaladin Anrizlokum]

You see, I completely forgot that I could build floor. I feel dumb.

Hahaha! Everyone makes dumb mistakes sometimes.
Yeah, floor makes everything easier when building.

[vexxice]

If I make an enclosed aboveground structure in a freezing environment, does it become insulated? I don't want my dwarves freezing to death.

[bluephoenix]

If I make an enclosed aboveground structure in a freezing environment, does it become insulated? I don't want my dwarves freezing to death.

If you have a roof, they should be fine.
The tile simply has to be marked as "inside".

[vexxice]

Thanks all! Now I shall begin building "TrumpetBow", the dwarven castle in "The Tundra of Angels". 

I love that name, "The Tundra of Angels", I just had to embark there when I read it.

[Bumber]

If I make an enclosed aboveground structure in a freezing environment, does it become insulated? I don't want my dwarves freezing to death.

If you have a roof, they should be fine.
The tile simply has to be marked as "inside".

I think water will still freeze, though, so keep that in mind when building wells or cisterns.

[PatrikLundell]

If you're using up/down staircases only, you'd need to micromanage the dwarves to ensure they are building the upper level walls in the correct order. Just having a stair and order them to build a 10 tile wall will cause them to eventually build a mid tile before the remote tiles (possibly trapping a dwarf building a remote section in the process). The other good alternative is to use bridges as scaffolding, i.e. build a 10*1 bridge in each direction from your staircase, then that level of the wall can be built in any order, except for the corners, that have to come before access to them is blocked by adjacent walls. The bridges can be deconstructed afterwards. You can either extend the bridges with new sections, or build additional up/down staircases with their own bridges to cut down on travelling distance.

My understanding is that above ground walls do nothing against cold/heat, so I'd advice you to check whether this is the case or not. It's certainly the case that milk froze in my completely enclosed courtyard (completely roofed over).

[Naryar]

how to build a tower...

-make a rectangle (or any other shape you desire) of walls
-build an up/down stair inside the square
-go 1z above
-make another up/down stair on top of the previous one
-fill the interior  of the rectangle of floors (made by your rectangle of walls 1z down from there) with floors
-build walls and/or fortifications on this level as you desire (mostly on top of the walls 1z under), careful, fortifications don't make floors 1z up from their level
-go 1z above
-repeat from fourth line

[McCautious]

You could leave out the floors if you build or designate the next level of wall one piece at a time. Here the "first in - last out" rule would apply, so you have to designate the wallpieces from the staircase outward. The mason will then walk on the wall if the staircase is right next to it.