Into the Fold: Making connection through origami
April 20, 2017
On a crisp spring evening in 2017, New York’s corporate real estate and design community gathered aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum for the annual CoreNet Global NYC Chapter Dinner—one of the year’s most anticipated industry events.
Set against the dramatic backdrop of an aircraft carrier on the Hudson, the evening blended networking, celebration, and design recognition. For our team, it was also an opportunity to showcase a competition entry we were especially proud of: “Into The Fold.”
The Setting: Design Meets Spectacle
Few venues in New York match the presence of the Intrepid.
Walking onto the flight deck—surrounded by aircraft, city skyline views, and layered event lighting—the tone was immediately set:
Industrial, historic infrastructure
Elevated by contemporary staging and production
A perfect metaphor for the intersection of legacy and innovation in design
Inside, the event unfolded as a mix of exhibition and celebration, with firms displaying competition entries alongside formal dinner programming.
“Into The Fold” — Concept on Display
Our installation, Into The Fold, explored ideas of transformation, continuity, and spatial adaptability.
While each competition entry approached workplace and environmental design differently, our concept centered on:
Folding as a spatial strategy — creating dynamic transitions rather than static boundaries
Layered surfaces that could define space, movement, and interaction
A balance of structure and fluidity, allowing environments to shift with user needs
The physical display translated these ideas into a tangible form—likely through:
Folded planes or faceted geometries
Material contrast to emphasize depth and movement
Lighting to accentuate edges, seams, and transitions
In a room full of boards and models, the goal wasn’t just clarity—it was presence.
The Value of Being in the Room
Events like the CoreNet dinner serve a different purpose than typical project milestones.
it was about:
Positioning ideas
Engaging peers and industry leaders
Testing how concepts resonate outside the studio
Standing alongside other entries, you could read the room in real time:
What drew people in
What sparked conversation
What held attention
That feedback loop—immediate and unfiltered—is rare in traditional practice.
A Night of Alignment
More than anything, the evening reinforced how interconnected the design ecosystem is in New York:
Architects
Corporate real estate leaders
Developers
Consultants
All sharing the same space, literally and professionally.
And within that context, Into The Fold wasn’t just a project—it was part of a larger dialogue about how workplaces and environments were evolving.
Looking Back
The 2017 CoreNet NYC Annual Dinner at the Intrepid was equal parts spectacle and substance.
For our team, it marked:
A moment of visibility
A chance to contribute to a broader design conversation
And a reminder that ideas—when presented well—can carry as much impact as built work
Because sometimes, the most important step in a project is putting the idea out into the world—and seeing who stops to look.