Folding at the threshold of architecture and engineering

For the past three decades, digitalization in architecture has paved the way towards increased collaboration between disciplines with new modes of representation and construction. Especially digital fabrication and material techniques spurred design explorations. In this, the operation of folding plays a central role as it inherently links architectural concerns for space-making with engineering concerns for structural stability. But the operation of folding has a much longer history within architectural design and originated as material technique with respect to the upcoming of large-span concrete structures at the beginning of the 20^th century. Examining this history of folding enables a better understanding of the similarities and novelties of the use folding within architecture and engineering and a critical evaluation of the capacity of the operation of folding as mediator between the disciplines.