Generative pop-up

Building generative pop-ups with code, laser cut in paper or cardboard,  folded by hand.

The origin of this idea came from the will to extend the project I did for the Writtenimages book and turn it into 3D. Since the original project is a 2D based drawing, I thought I might keep these as a starting point and not build a 3D model of it. The other parameter I wanted to keep is it's simplicity and the fact that the output would be on paper. Pop-ups and origamis are the oldest techniques to turn a 2D sheet of paper into a 3D sculpture. 

After looking at pictures of Elod Beregszaszi (Popupology), Ingrid Siliakus (Paper Architect), and others (see "inspiration" links on the side), I started to build a simple mathematical model of how these pop-ups behave and what are their limitations. The code was written in Processing and constantly updated as my understanding of pop-up logic grew.

The program was then mainly used to create random pop-ups at different sizes (from A5  to A1).

The  last three days of the workshop were mainly focusing on finding the right settings and material for the laser cutter, creating more complex random pop-ups and spending more and more time folding them as the complexity increased.