Living in an age of rapid changes, designers are challenged to create solutions that remain sustainable in a continuously evolving environment. Since most of our earth's resources are finite, these solutions should incorporate efficient material use and reuse. Buildings and structures are always in transition. Facilitating these transformations is vital to the sustainable development of our built environment. With our group we study, develop and assess transformable structures on different scales, in different contexts and for various time-spans and purposes. This paper presents our work on transformable structures, based on four case studies: a kinetic curved-line folding component, a temporary and rapidly assembled structure, a dynamic wall assembly and a BIM tool for material flow assessment of adaptable buildings. Although varying in scale or purpose, these cases demonstrate the same key principles of transformability. Reducing the complexity of the connections and structural system facilitates an easy and rapid assembly, but also allows users and locals to participate in the assembly, maintenance, reconfiguration and deconstruction of the structure. Apart from benefits during the assembly and adaptability, it is important to assess transformable structures and building solutions on their material and cost effectiveness. With BIM tools it is possible to incorporate this assessment already in the conceptual design phases of a project, as illustrated in the fourth case.@en

Curved-line folding is the act of folding a flat sheet of material along a curved crease pattern in order to create a three-dimensional shape. It is a creative and innovative way to produce lightweight and geometrically stiff components using only sheet materials. The pavilion presented in this paper integrates this principle in a kit-of-parts system. After being cut out of flat plates, the components get their 3D shape by folding them along a set of predefined curved lines. This deformed geometry, variable in its degree of bending, results in a structurally efficient ‘building block’ that can be combined into different structural configurations depending on its mode of assembly. The components form a weave pattern by connecting them ‘flap to leg’ respectively. As such, adjacent components lock each other into their rigid three-dimensional configuration and a modular shell structure is obtained. When composed of identical components, the obtained structure combines the advantages of rapid fabrication and assembly with an extensive reuse of components. However, the pavilion demonstrates that more geometrically and aesthetically challenging compositions, consisting of a series of custom-made components, are also possible and manageable when using digital fabrication techniques. Furthermore, this paper presents and discusses the digital modelling methods used for the design of the pavilion, as well as the lessons learned by real scale fabrication and assembly.@en

Curved-line folding is the act of folding paper along a curved crease pattern in order to create a 3D shape, using the combination of folding (plastic deformation) and bending (elastic deformation). Up until now, the use of curved- line folding in architecture has been limited to static applications only, such as metal sculptures or façade panels. However, the elastic deformations that occur when a flat sheet is forced into a curved shape can produce an interesting transformation process. The elastic deformation of one area of the sheet results in the folding and bending of adjacent surface areas as the internal forces and moments are transferred through the curved creases. This paper explains how this behaviour can be used for the design of deployable structures finding their application in the context of adaptive shading. Through the analysis of various crease patterns and the fabrication of small scale models, some important design parameters are defined. This paper demonstrates how the choice of the composition of the crease pattern, the curvature of the creases and the Length-Thickness Ratio affect the resulting kinetic system. The outcome of the analysis is useful for the design of deployable structures based on curved-line folding.@en