Vadadoriya Vrundesh Dulabhai

CD4003

FoldForm Pavilion

This project uses the Miura origami folding principle to design a collapsible pavilion system that emphasises modularity, adaptability, and ease of assembly. Rooted in the core objective of creating functionally flexible spaces, the project explores how modular folding systems can serve as dynamic spatial solutions in contemporary architecture. The pavilion is designed to be easily transported, assembled, disassembled, and reconfigured, addressing the need for speed, versatility, and efficiency in temporary or mobile architectural applications. Inspired by the Miura origami pattern, the folding mechanism allows the panels to expand and collapse seamlessly, conserving space during transport and enabling fluid transitions in form and function. Through modular repetition, standardised units create a system that can adapt to multiple configurations, supporting diverse uses such as shelters, exhibition spaces, or gathering zones. This design approach prioritises speed of construction, material efficiency, and spatial responsiveness. By using deployable systems, the project demonstrates how kinetic architecture can provide practical, scalable, and elegant solutions to real-world spatial challenges, especially in scenarios where adaptability and quick transformation are essential. 


Report Content

This three-week project investigates clay extrusion as a material-specific production method with an emphasis on system-based methodologies and modular design. Using computational techniques such as parametric scripting, the goal is to create accurate, flexible workflows that are suited to the particular behavior of clay. Fabricated prototypes, a parametric script, and thorough documentation that can be used as a resource by the entire studio are among the deliverables. By doing this, the initiative promotes competence in clay manufacturing, modular design system thinking, and the development of automated, replicable workflows that adapt to material limitations.

Through the construction of an expressive, responsive pavilion, this project investigates the relationship between material, geometry, and climate over the course of two weeks. The design explores how natural forces—sunlight, heat, and humidity—can shape and animate architectural form, with the central theme being “Climate as a Design Force: Harnessing environmental factors such as wind, water, and temperature shifts to actively shape the pavilion’s form and behavior.” By means of passive methods and material responsiveness, the pavilion transforms into a sensory artifact that embodies the poetic potential of climate as a design collaborator and reveals invisible environmental fluxes.

The pavilion explores modular adaptability, enabling dynamic transformations to accommodate distinct functions. Inspired by the structural efficiency of domes and vaults, the design integrates modular principles to achieve flexible spatial configurations. The pavilion is constructed using lightweight parallelogram and right-triangle panels, supported by an MS frame. Minimal yet effective joinery, including custom-made hinge joints, ensures continuous load transfer while allowing rapid assembly and disassembly. These joints are designed to be form-specific and highly efficient, enabling seamless structural transformations with minimal effort. Standardized modular components function as versatile units, allowing the pavilion to be reconfigured easily to suit different functional needs. Each form serves a singular function at a time, with effortless adaptability ensuring smooth transitions between spatial arrangements. The pavilion’s emphasis on flexibility, and user-driven adaptability

Module Evolution

Final Module Design

Left to Right (Design Problem, Module Evolution, Design Execution)

Design Resolution

Digital Visualization

Project Video