ARTIFACT / INTERACTIVE DESIGN & MECHANISM STUDY

Quarto

Four folios. One inspectable transformation.

A machine whose movement is part of its character. Four lateral assemblies fold, turn, and settle around an exposed carrier. The pleasure is in following the parts—not only arriving at the other silhouette.

Quarto in DRIVE, with turquoise folios folded against a dark central body and the taller rear pair forming canted haunches. — DRIVE / 01
The folded state: a low forward pair and taller, canted rear haunches.
RECORDED VIEWER STILL

01 / TWO STATES

The same parts, a different posture.

In SPREAD, the four folios reach outward and their attachment points become easy to read. In DRIVE, they fold and nest into receiving shoulders. The smaller front pair stays low; the larger rear pair rises into the haunch. These are endpoints of one reversible motion, not two separate models.

Quarto in SPREAD from the same oblique viewpoint, with four turquoise folios extended laterally and their root mechanisms visible. — SPREAD / 02
The same overview with the folios extended. Compare their reach and the exposed roots with DRIVE above.

02 / EXPOSED MECHANISM

The body frames the motion.

The central carrier, folio roots, and open stern remain part of the visible object. At the stern, a hollow thrust can moves around a fixed core, enters its receiver, and locks. Following that capture-and-lock sequence is as important as the final shape.

A close view into Quarto’s open stern in DRIVE, showing the hollow thrust can, central carrier, and raised rear folios. — STERN / 03
A closer look at the open carrier in DRIVE. All three stills show BODY ON in the Hush Basin palette.

BODY ON / BODY OFF

In the live viewer, switch the body off to separate the mechanism from its surrounding shell. Switch it back on to see how the body makes room for the moving assemblies. The comparison is a way to read the design, not a second machine.

Pause between the endpoints.

Move the SPREAD / DRIVE slider slowly, or play and reverse the sequence. Choose Show for the presentation pace, Inspect to slow it down, or Game for a quick transformation. Orbit the machine, move closer, and try the camera presets. The intermediate poses are meant to be satisfying and inspectable too.

03 / ENTER THE STUDY

Follow a folio home.

The interactive viewer requires JavaScript and WebGL. This folio’s stills, text, and destinations remain available without JavaScript. The images above are recorded views; use the live study to move the machine.