Furniture design nowadays isn’t just about usability anymore but also about artistic design. Some break the conventional mold especially in the design process to create something unique, yet still functional. Take these flat fabric that transforms into fabric furniture pieces with a simple tug or fold.
These are deployable 3D-printed furniture pieces made by a computer-controlled sewing machine. There’s a feel of origami as at the fold of the fabric, it transforms into a real piece of furniture.
This is a project from a team at the Human Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) and Robotics Institute (RI) at Carnegie Mellon University, led by the School of Design undergraduate student, Sapna Tayal. It stems from the concept of “flat-to-shape” objects, which transform into 3D shapes by folding, bending, and assembling.
This isn’t a novel idea with some made in smaller scale by 3D printers and laser cutters. But to actually apply it on sizable items like furniture, the team decided to use a computer-controlled sewing machine to create a larger and deployable 3D-printed fabric furniture.
The team then combined the fabric with certain materials including stiff panels of plastic, wood, or even electronic components and stuff them inside pockets created between the layers of fabric. These materials provide structure and shape and make the furniture sturdy enough to stand. The pieces also rely on a cord, magnets, and Velcro to deploy.
There’s a stool and a lounge chair with fold lines for easy assembly and has glued neodymium magnets in the milled pockets so it snaps into place. The fabric and panels carry the primary load. There’s also a side table that uses a cord to deploy and shift it back into a flat shape. The question though is on the load bearing capacity and structural integrity on these fabric furniture pieces.
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Images courtesy of Carnegie Mellon University/Sapna Tayal
