— Patent Pending · RCA 2022
Fold.
Sit.
Live.
Flat furniture that transforms from floor to function. Origami-inspired carpets that unfold into stools, benches & chairs — engineered for urban living without compromise.
3
Products
4
Months R&D
∞
Configurations
— About the Project
Where Space
Meets Ingenuity
Urban Origami was born at the Royal College of Art in 2022 from a simple question: what if your floor could become your furniture? Taking cues from origami’s transformative fold logic, the collection challenges everything we assume about space in modern city living.
Each piece lies flat as a textured carpet — elegant, unobtrusive, functional as a floor covering. With a single fold sequence, it locks into a rigid sitting piece. No tools. No assembly. Just the intelligence of the fold.
Material
Polypropylene
+ Technical Fabric
Origin
Royal College of Art
London, 2022
Status
Patent Pending
Hinge System
Live Hinge
Fabric / Leather
Flat → Folded Transformation Diagram
— The Collection
Three Objects.
One Floor.
Each piece in the collection functions as a floor carpet in its resting state, then folds into a rigid seat.
01
Stool
/ Carpet
The compact seat. Lies flat as a textured floor mat, folds upright into a rigid single-person stool. Perfect for small apartments and studio living.
02
Bench
/ Carpet
The social seat. A long-form carpet that folds into a multi-person bench. Ideal for entryways, dining areas, or communal living spaces.
03
Chair
/ Carpet
The everyday seat. Complete with a folded backrest, this carpet transforms into a full chair — the most ergonomically complete piece in the collection.
— Design Principles
Designed
With Purpose.
Space
Optimised
Lies completely flat at 5mm or 3mm thick when not in use. Zero visual clutter. Maximum floor area reclaimed. Designed for micro-apartments, studios, and compact urban homes.
Origami
Mechanics
The live hinge system — engineered from polypropylene panels bonded with technical fabric or leather — enables infinite fold-unfold cycles without structural fatigue.
Dual
Function
Each product fulfils two distinct roles without compromise: a durable, aesthetically considered floor covering, and a structurally sound seat — no assembly, no separate storage.
Instant
Transition
No tools required. No time wasted. A single, intuitive fold sequence completes the transformation in seconds.
Fully
Reversible
Return the piece to its flat carpet state at any moment. The locking mechanism releases cleanly, with no residual deformation.
Material
Precision
Polypropylene chosen for its optimal balance of rigidity and flex. Extensively tested at 3mm and 5mm thicknesses across multiple fabric and leather hinge configurations.
— Development
Built to
Fold Right.
01
Material Testing
PP sheets at 5mm and 3mm tested for load-bearing, fold fatigue, and surface texture quality.
02
Hinge Design
Fabric, leather, and film sheet live hinges evaluated for cycle durability and clean fold lines.
03
Lock Mechanism
Multiple locking configurations prototyped to achieve a rigid, stable seated position with tool-free release.
04
Final Prototypes
Stool, bench, and chair prototypes fabricated. Binding fabrics, stitching, and surface finish finalised.
— Get in Touch
Let’s
Talk.
Interested in Urban Origami — for licensing, collaboration, press, or retail inquiries? We’d love to hear from you.