pop up room divider

Of the many imaginary inventions in my head, a pop-up guest room has had many iterations. Living in a moderate-sized New York City apartment with only one bedroom, I’d love a separate, somewhat private space to offer guests who come to sleep in my big open livingroom/kitchen/workspace. My latest inspiration comes Fabrica, Benetton’s communication research center in Treviso, Ialy.’Next Cabane’ was a design exploration spurred by  a foldable wooden structure found in  a dark corner of an antique market in the south of Scotland.  Fabrica’s designers viewed envisioned it as movable rooms that can be carried from place to place.

‘small, temporary spaces where we can set our boundaries, seek shelter or simply live a different life rediscovering the quality and simplicity of things. 
personal, intimate havens in harmony with their surroundings; they reflect on subjects like work, pop-up culture, loneliness, games. 
alternative settings were one can live in a better way with more awareness, where design is at the service of research into materials, forms and structures.’

All it would take to make the frame is a some drilled slats of hardwood, jointed with hex bolts and wing nuts* nut whose “wings” provide a grip for the thumb and finger. You tighten the wing nut to secure the form; untighten it to fold it up for storage. 

pop up room divider

This 15 second animation of a folding scissor fence gives the idea (video link here):

lowes.com
lowes.com
Then, like a kid, start draping fabric over the form, fortlike…
pop up room divider
*How curiously fitting that ‘wing nut’ can also mean ‘one who advocates extreme measures or changes’.

Related posts: fort magic (pop-up rooms indoors and out)
‘pop-up’ rooms within rooms
‘pop-up’ room redux: interlocking cardboard
improv heart +the snaptastic room divider
d-i-y corrugated cardboard room divider (after pistoletto)

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