We are in the midst of a revolution that promises to forever change how we make things. At one extreme, software tools are empowering individuals to envision, create and share their own designs; while at another, low-cost digital fabrication machines are allowing these one-of-a-kind creations to be built and consumed from the comfort of our homes. However, while 3D printers are becoming increasingly accessible and capable of rivaling the quality of professional equipment, they are still inherently limited by a small print volume, placing severe constraints on the type and scale of objects we can create. 

For [the next idea] we propose to address this problem by identifying computational and material folding strategies that will allow large-scale objects to be compressed into a minimal volume to maximize the printing capability of desktop 3D printers. The folding techniques we develop will be exemplified and embodied through a series of representative furniture pieces, and their fundamental principles and designs will be openly published and distributed to encourage others to learn from, use and modify our work.

Folding as a computational design and assembly strategy can be found across natural systems, such as in the structures of proteins and DNA, and in industrial applications that seek to increase efficiency while supporting high degrees of structural complexity, interoperability and reuse. With Ars Electronica support, we plan to: identify and analyze a series of folding strategies; perform material and mechanical tests; design universal and programmable hinges that can be printed as a single piece (and be reversed for disassembly); and make a final archetypal furniture piece that can support, evaluate and communicate our work.

Marcelo Coelho (BR) is a designer and Research Affiliate at the MIT Media Lab, and his work explores how materials that embody computational properties can reshape the ways in which we design, interact and communicate. During his doctoral work, Marcelo studied how shape-changing materials can be used in the design of transformable surfaces in order to computationally reconfigure their topology, texture and permeability.

Skylar Tibbits (US) is a trained architect and computer scientist whose research focuses on developing self-assembly and programmable material technologies for the built environment. Skylar is the director of the Self-Assembly Lab at MIT and is faculty in the Department of Architecture, teaching design studios and co-teaching *How to Make (Almost) Anything*, a seminar at MIT’s Media Lab.

Natan Linder (IL) is a co-founder of Formlabs and a PhD student in the Fluid Interfaces group at the MIT Media Lab. His work fuses design and engineering to create novel human experiences. Before joining the MIT Media Lab, he was the lead UI designer at Heartland Robotics.

Yoav Reches (IL) is a London-based industrial designer and the designer behind Form 1. His multidisciplinary work explores the practical and conceptual applications of product design.