Podcast episode #9 – Introducing Foldstruct, a startup defining the future of architecture with Tal Friedman

Foldstruct is an Israel based startup, which wants to make Fee Form Architecture affordable and available to everyone. Tal Friedman, its founder, is a key note speaker for topics like foldable structures and Free Form Architecture, but also a successful entrepreneur. Tal’s vision is of a beautiful, yet practical architecture, affordable for everyone everywhere.

Challenges of Free Form Architecture

Free Form Architecture goes away from cubical structures and takes inspiration, for example, from nature and natural structures, such as trees and flowers. To design such a structure requires out of the box approach, but to manufacture it, is a different task overall. Moreover, the technology to do so in a large scale is years behind and sometimes even has to be borrowed from other industries, such as space and automotive. In general the manufacturing costs stops the show, before Free Form Architecture can be accessible for common people. Here is, where Foldstruct shows a path forward.

Foldstruct approach

It starts with the right questions, such as: “How can you take a sheet of a material and bend it to a new shape?” To answer it, Tal Friedman and his team at Foldstruct use logic and smart algorithms to adapt current technology standards and give them a new purpose. And so, foldable structures are created. These can vary from facades which give houses new environmental purpose, foldable furniture easy to ship, or even sheds in emergency zones, easy to build and more affordable than current emergency housing.

Next steps

There is so much more to tell about work of Foldstruct and Tal Friedman, besides we didn’t yet answer the initial question: “Can Foldstruct make Free Form Architecture mainstream?”. Go ahead and listen to our podcast episode and make up your own mind. Besides, you should definitely check Tal’s work and connect to Tal via social media channels or his websites.

Website: talfriedman.com
Facebook: @talfriedmanarch
E-mail: Office@talfriedman.com

…And if you are curious as what is Help’n’Trade, read our blog post, where we introduced Help’n’Trade.

If you want to stay in touch or appear on the podcast, contact us via our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/helpandtrade or drop us an e-mail on: contact@helpandtrade.com.
Also, don’t forget to check our platform: https://helpntrade.com

00:00 – Introduction
00:47 – Tal’s path to entrepreneurship
02:29 – Digital design and Free Form Architecture
04:18 – Creation of Tal’s free form pavilon (on the picture)
05:19 – How to create Free Form Architecture from simple form of a sheet
06:36 – Manufacturing and business challenges of a Free Form Architecture
07:58 – Inspiration for Tal’s work
08:52 – Future of Free Form Architecture
09:57 – Principles of Foldstruct’s work
11:08 – Link between design and fabrication
12:07 – 3D printing in architecture
13:51 – Facades may be the first step to bring free form in conventional architecture
15:18 – Foldable structures are ideal to replace sheds
17:40 – How to think like an entrepreneur in architecture
19:28 – Business side of Foldstruct
22:47 – Patents are a key to scale up folded structures
24:00 – Foldstruct focuses on plug-in systems
24:20 – Switzerland is a great market for architecture and innovation
26:10 – Tal’s departure remarks

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