Cambridge, MA | 2016
This project is the result of a research exploration into fast, cheap & out of box material and construction processes that propose radical alternatives to today’s architecture and engineering systems.
This project produced a pop-up structure that was dropped from a 100’ crane, self-assembled in the air and parachuted safely back to earth. It targets construction scenarios where it is difficult to build, hard to get people, materials or equipment, time consuming, energy intensive, expensive, or dangerous.
Leveraging the material properties of fiberglass rods, the folding sequence simoultaneously reduces the structure into a package able to be carried by a single person, and also embeds the necessary energy into the structure to allow deployment without mechanical assistance.
To test the full-scale prototype, the structure was lifted and released from a 100-foot crane above a vacant football field.
The parachute-grade fabric played two-key roles in the design of the structure: First, it created wind-resistance during the decent that increased the time for the structure to fully unfold. Second, once the structure has landed, the fabric provides a canopy/shading system that creates interior space.
Collaborators: Danniely Staback, MyDung Nguyen, Zachary Angles, Zain Karsan,
Partner Organizations: Autodesk, Atelier One
Instructors: Skylar Tibbits, Neil Thomas, Aran Chadwick