Chuck Hoberman Wows Japan

Chuck Hoberman wowed this Treehugger at the Transportable Environments conference a few years ago; he builds toys and sculptures that expand and contract and which are a hit at science museums. He also builds bigger architectural transformations such as the Iris Dome at Expo 2000 or the fabulous stage set at the opening of the Salt Lake City Olympics. He is part of the "smart geometry" movement and even has designed transformer furniture. Now he wows Japan's PingMag in an extensive interview. We find that so many TreeHugger themes, from transformers to transportable design to even biomimicry come up in this one interivew, for example:

your website states that you design objects that transform like natural organisms… Like what?

There is an aspect of our design practise which you can call biomimicry: It is part of the general strategy to use nature as an example to design, particularly with its performance and action. We imitate the way organisms grow or change shape or adapt themselves to different conditions. However, the transformable systems that we develop are technology and mathematically based. Basically they are a practical means to build structures or develop products that can change size and shape in order to have some structural benefit, a reason. Read interview at ::PingMag

Wooden portability: This foldable furniture can be carried like a briefcase. We only hope it is not too heavy