The Accordion: an Innovative Method to Creating Space

The Accordion is a high-end restaurant located in NYC. While it is one amongst thousands of restaurants, there is one unique quality about it that makes it stand out. The structure of the restaurant features a set of almost origami-like walls.

Throughout the day, if one watches closely, one will notice that these walls occasionally fold in on themselves, revealing a beautiful public space to lounge, relax, and socialize in. During busier times for the restaurant, the walls expand, creating a bustling, welcoming environment for diners.

Main Building Materials:

1. Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE)
2. Brick
3. Wood
4. Glass

+ other miscellaneous materials, e.g., furniture and appliances

Project Materials:

1. Sketchpad
2. AutoCAD
3. Revit
4. Enscape

The Shed, located in NYC, is a flexible structure designed to host cultural events like art galleries, music events, and conventions. Its most prominent feature is a rolling sleeve which covers and uncovers an area, creating a public or enclosed space, depending on usage needs.

Leading architect of The Shed, Liz Dillo, explicitly compared The Shed's shell to an item of clothing, as she wanted the retractable shell to represent the process of putting on or taking off layers as needed. To accomplish this, Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) was used in the outer shell, creating a design reminiscent of a puffer jacket that can be put on or taken off as needed.

The Accordion is a restaurant inspired by this concept.

The main, "non-movable" building hosts a kitchen space, restrooms, and a dining area.

The movable section has two different functions.

1. Expanded: Extra dining and bar space, great for hosting events, parties, and celebrations
2. Retracted: Retracting the wall creates a public outdoor space, where people can sit, socialize, and relax. It acts as a public third place (areas that people can stay in other than home, work, or school). Alternatively, it can be used by the restaurant to host customers or outdoor celebrations during warmer seasons.

To start, I created preliminary sketches of what the building could look like and how it could function. These plans are subject to change, as I just wanted to get an idea down.

The design of the building was inspired by an accordion, more specifically, its grills and bellows.

The grills are the part of the instrument that protects internal mechanisms and amplifies sound. I wanted to incorporate that aspect into a wall of my building, to act as a protector while also letting in lots of natural light.

More prominently, the main movable aspect of my building are made up of accordion bellow-inspired walls. The sketch above demonstrates a potential way of utilizing the folding compression & decompression of the bellows into a dynamic structure.

With the movement of the walls decided, I wanted to find a way to retract the indoor flooring alongside the walls. I looked to the Colosseum's recent 2021 renovation for inspiration.

In the renovation, the architecture studio Labics and Fabio Fumagalli designed a retractable floor system that would allow performances to occur within the colosseum and retract to show the mechanisms used to transport gladiators and animals.

This kind of flooring is perfect for my usage, as it would allow the floor of the movable area to be retracted and expanded as needed. I would use a similar system to the proposed Colosseum flooring, except on a much smaller scale.

As mentioned before, Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) is a durable, foldable, weather-resistant, and transparent material. This material will be used on the outside of the Accordion to create the effect of the bellows.

The images above display the usage of ETFE in outer walls.

With the background research and design process complete, it was time to transfer a rough draft onto AutoCAD. The floor plan shown is subject to change.

To create "foldable" walls, I first created a Revit Family for a section of a wall, which I could then use in my main project. The folding aspect would function similarly to the bellows of a traditional accordion, as the inner parts fold in on themselves as it compresses.

As the Accordion is meant to be a fine dining restaurant, I created a sophisticated environment deserving of a title. The interior is decorated elegantly, with a balcony overlooking the expandable dining area.

The section above displays the lobby, restrooms, kitchen, and second-floor dining area.

Final Renderings of The Accordion's exterior.

Image 2 shows the foldable section fully expanded, while image 3 shows the foldable section fully compressed. You'll notice that in image 3, the roof acts as an overhang providing shade when the walls are retracted. This is caused by the folding of the roof over itself, creating a roof half of its original size.

Final Renderings of The Accordion's interior.

While in theory the Accordion is actionable, real-world parameters mean that we have a variety of considerations:

1. Cost of engineering and maintenance for mechanical systems (floor retraction, wall retraction, roof retraction)
2. City zoning laws; land available
3. Energy consumption

However, I am excited to have been able to design the Accordion. There was a lot of research involved, especially in the mechanical parts, which I have had no experience in, making this all the more challenging. The design aspect was especially exciting as I was able to watch a kind of "outlandish" movable building come to life. It was also my first time creating a building with a design in mind first, instead of the function in mind first, which led to more of a focus on the aesthetics and looks over technical function.

Thanks for reading!