Discover Magazine called Chuck Hoberman "the Buckminster Fuller of the 1990s." His unfolding spheres and domes bear a visual resemblance to Bucky's geodesic structures. Hoberman thinks the analogy is valid, but his work also differs from Fuller's.

The overarching theme of Bucky's work was "doing more with less." Hoberman says his point of departure is different: the idea of making structures that transform their size and shape. These may seem like different goals, but both approaches involve deep study of underlying principles. Things are designed not to look a certain way, but to act a certain way. The look of Fuller's geodesic domes, like Hoberman's Unfolding Structures, is a natural outcome of their governing principles.

When asked how else Fuller's work has influenced him, he says, "Well, I'm a fan." He adds, "After an extended dry spell, we are seeing a new interest in making innovative structures. If we develop our built environment with technologies that are both forward-thinking and beautiful, we help create hope for the future."


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Design office, New York City

Hoberman Associates, Inc. is the originator of transformation technology, and we lead this new field of making objects that change their size and shape. We create innovative products, structures, and environments. We have comprehensive design capabilities, integrating transformation technology into diverse applications such as medical, architectural, consumer products, and more.


Our inventive approach provides our clients with original and practical solutions to their needs. The results are demonstrable: over the years our product designs have sold many millions of units and our installations have been seen by many millions of viewers.

Hoberman Associates' work is centered on the fundamental idea that a designed object can transform the way a natural organism does. While the smooth transformation of size and shape is ubiquitous in the natural world, it is rare among man-made objects. The creation of transforming objects requires a new design theory, a conceptual framework that draws on mathematics, mechanics and structural engineering to integrate change as a basis for design.

Through years of exploration and experimentation we have identified critical parameters for the successful creation of transforming objects. The process of transformation should be:

• Complete & fully three-dimensional
• Smooth & continuous
• Reversible & repeatable

These attributes result in functional benefits for products, such as ease of use, fluid responsiveness and adaptability. They lead to an integrated design approach where structure and mechanism are combined, which offers the ability to build transforming structures at both large and small scale.



Over the years we have developed a number of systems for rapidly deployable shelters. Our designs for tents and temporary structures quickly and smoothly unfold from a compact state into large structural coverings.

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