{"id":13116,"date":"2023-01-20T12:53:21","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T12:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/e-zeppelin.ro\/en\/?p=13116"},"modified":"2023-01-20T12:53:21","modified_gmt":"2023-01-20T12:53:21","slug":"alexe-popescu-fold-function","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/e-zeppelin.ro\/en\/alexe-popescu-fold-function\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexe Popescu: Fold & Function"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

He started by folding metro cards. Now, even the categories of projects Alexe Popescu started on Origami principles number in the order of tens. The play has become increasingly more serious and fertile, turning into a design program and philosophy. (Zeppelin<\/em>) <\/p>\n

Alexe Popescu has a dual academic formation (engineering and arts) and a professional track which combines graphic and product design. He co-authored, with Doru Someșan, the book RO-KIT – Romanian identity in 50 components. He is a book designer with the Publica publishing house and teaches Basic Design to 1st and 2nd year students (product and ambiental design) with UNARTE, where he is also enrolled for his PhD. He is studying the practical applications of folding techniques in design, technology, and upcycling.<\/p>\n

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$\"01_studiu$ <\/a>*A character (study of curved folding of a metrou card)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Text & photo: Alexe Popescu<\/strong><\/p>\n

The transformation, using minimum technology, of a bi-dimensional material into a functional tri-dimensional object has always been a challenge for me in product design. I used this principle to develop several projects, such as a stool made of A4 paper, which can hold at least 90 kg, a chair, table and coffee table, each made of a single piece of CNC-processed birch plywood (showcased in the Common Roots exhibition at the Holon Design Museum), or a wallet made of plasticized paper, punched out of a single sheet and only assembled by folding, sold in a few thousand copies.<\/p>\n

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$\"02_1_Taburet$ <\/a> $\"02_2_cookie-table1\"$ <\/a> $\"02_3$ <\/a>*From two to three dimensions: stool, Cookie table, wallet<\/span>
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These experiences, together with my studies at the Polytechnical School and UNARTE, have led to my re-discovering Origami as an adult, then to triggering a passion to explore this fascinating field. It is currently applicable in increasingly varied fields, such as aerospace engineering, robotics, architecture, nanotechnology, medicine, product design, fashion, education, or therapy, due to the contribution of science and art personalities to its development and dissemination: Akira Yoshisawa, Joseph Albers, David Huffman, Ron Resch, Kōryō Miura, Robert J. Lang, Paul Jackson, Erik Demaine, Jeannine Mosely, Jun Mitani, Daniela Rus, Joseph Choma, Tomohiro Tachi, Tomoko Fuse, Shuzo Fujimoto and many others.<\/p>\n

A special moment of my encounter with this domain was when visiting the Miraikan Centre – The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation of Tokyo, in 2008. This museum of Japanese high-tech also integrates (besides robotics clubs and other activities for children) an Origami club, where seniors meet up to passionately share discoveries about folding up various models.<\/p>\n

My more serious approach to the Origami world happened in 2017, out of logistic reasons :-) I had started to travel more by metro and I discovered that the banal metro card (with the standard format of a bank card) was excellent for Origami. Its division into geometrical folding networks (orthogonal or 60-degree ones), with infinite possibilities (Akira Yoshisawa) to configure the final result, as well as the format size, allowing for folding even when lacking a rigid support, such as a table, have turned it into an extremely versatile creation environment. This card can even be folded when walking. I had a sort of slogan at the time: “Origami on the go, from the card on the metro”.<\/p>\n

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