  In this paper we describe a 1-dimensional variational approach to the
analytical construction of equivariant biharmonic maps. Our goal is to provide
a direct method which enables analysts to compute directly the analytical
conditions which guarantee biharmonicity in the presence of suitable
symmetries. In the second part of our work, we illustrate and discuss some
examples. In particular, we obtain a 1-dimensional stability result, and also
show that biharmonic maps do not satisfy the classical maximum principle proved
by Sampson for harmonic maps.
