Flat panels fold by hand into shelters that ship anywhere

MIT researchers have developed an origami-based construction method that could let workers build strong, lightweight shelters from flat panels folded into shape by hand. The system turns sheets of material like aluminum into rigid unit cells that lock together into a load-bearing shell with no interior support columns. Simulations found the structures are about 3.5 times stiffer than those made with some other origami techniques, while using roughly two-thirds as much material. The appeal for disaster relief is speed. Panels ship flat, then assemble on site at an earthquake or flood with little more than screwdrivers. To prove it scales, the team hung a 23-foot folded aluminum sculpture from the atrium ceiling of the Boston Public Library. A crew with no professional construction experience built the whole thing in days. The pieces are designed so each one can only fit one way. "The structure can only exist in one configuration," said lead author Alfonso Parra Rubio.