Paper is one of the most ingenious materials, that is understated in many ways! Paper Engineering is an art that dates back centuries. Paper has been used to create models, mechanisms, and complete pieces of interactive artwork.
In this session we want to walk through how we can make mini-worlds that pop up and pop out using simple materials like paper and glue. We will look at how we can use math and simple mechanisms to create pop up rooms.
Here's what we'll be doing in the wonderful 60 minutes :
* Look at examples of paper engineering
* Use templates to create our own pop up room
* Understand the math behind the template, so that we can create our own templates later!
* A little show and tell of our mini-rooms!
Our model of running the session will be as follows - We usually start with examples, and in the part where we all work together in creating the pop up room, we will be pausing after each step allowing participants to work on their model. If we have very few participants, we will open it up to more creative aspects as well. Such as, how can we design these spaces to tell a story. If we have about 30 participants, we will probably stick to more of the paper engineering, and talk less about the design aspect of things.
What is the goal and/or outcome of your session?:-
We're hoping that many efforts and discussions will continue after Mozfest. Share any ideas you already have for how to continue the work from your session.:Towards the end of the session, we spend about 10 minutes showing participants how they can use what they learnt during the session to create more extensive pop ups, and even books!
Apart from that, at Paper Crane Lab, we also have a online group where we curate examples and paper challenges for people to work on. We would surely love to invite all the participants to that community if they'd be interested. It's a great opportunity to meet other paper engineering enthusiasts, as well as a wonderful continuous learning option.
We would also love to point them to further online resources that would help in their further education in this session.
Mathura is an educator from Bangalore. She has been teaching creative technology in various maker spaces and colleges for the past 4 years included Paper Crane Lab, which she founded.