"PDU (Portable Dining Unit) is designed with young emerging chefs in mind, specifically pop-up chefs and food truckers. This prototype is a novel combination of collapsible screens, portable tables, and folding chairs that offers 'culinary guerillas' the opportunity for rapid deployment and disassembly within the mobile culinary market.
PDU's lightweight, translucent shell is constructed 1/8-in. corrugated plastic panels with origami-like folds. Connected by simple zip ties through pre-drilled holes, the structure expands and contracts like an accordion to create an extraordinary dining scene'from a two-person intimate dining room to a 50-plus party-under-the-dome experience. The sculpted veil glows and beckons to hungry passersby at night, and during the day, it filters sunlight to provide guests with a sense of inhabited sculpture.
The entire structure can be assembled, deployed, and modified by just two people with DIY tools. And while with other structures, certain building skills are required, PDU requires no expertise and the 'user manual' is a sticker with simple graphic deployment instructions on one of the top flat-packed panels.
The interior can be furnished in a variety of ways. Here, the portable, folding furniture is in line with the structure itself. The lightweight organic form within PDU'what appears to be a chandelier-like fixture'is an art piece crafted from neon drinking straws and complements the undulating organic patterns of the portable shell. It captures light (from spotlights set at the base of the structure) in unexpected ways, and can be rewoven into a variety of shapes to respond to various culinary themes and PDU sizes.
The total cost of materials to construct PDU is approximately $2000. This is the one-time cost for the structure; furnishing costs (not included) vary according to the design requirements."
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