So lately I've been researching fabric tensile structures and hang gliders and experimenting with physical models. Those still need to be documented and will be posted shortly. However, I've been lacking a specific folding technique that will transform the structure from house to glider. I started looking more closely at wings in general and have found myself researching compliance hinges. Those are the kind of joint connections found in umbrellas and our muscles where in order to move one part, an entire series of joints has to move in unison. I've also found some precedent studies which do what i'm interested in and it would be interesting if i could make it work in mine.

This is the "Tree of Life" project developed by Basak Altan and Mark Schirmer of San Diego for Architecture for Humanity to be used by refugees of the Kosovo genocide. Although the project doesn't use compliance hinges you can still see how the structure could open and close like an umbrella if designed with the proper structural systems.

Architecture for Humanity also developed a project for Oxfam for refugees in Ethiopia. A deployable structure that works similarily to an umbrella. This project however was never realized because of cost ($30,000 per unit) and the reliance on trucks, aircraft, or other large vehicles, as well as skilled workers to assemble the project.

A project with a somewhat similiar retractable features is found in the retractable roof system of the Montreal Olympic Stadium.