This project is a canopy for an outdoor wedding ceremony.  The roof was botanically inspired; its pleats are like the leaf of a fan palm. The idea was that the pleated roof would be stiff enough to span without additional rafters.   The leaves, made of thin plywood,  twist along their length. At … the center they are vertical and at the perimeter, they are folded out to make a flat angle.  Thin plywood, if bent in two directions, becomes very strong, like an eggshell. The 'leaves' are connected in a hinged way so that the roof can be folded up like an umbrella to transport it in the back of a car. The leaves are stitched along their top edges and along their bottom edges to form groups of three.  They are then pulled down onto the ring beam with a rope from the apex of each leaf ridge, through a hole drilled in the ring beam, and tied off with a couple of turns and a clove hitch.  The teak oil finish on the birch plywood gives a nice golden glow.
The supporting legs are made of steel fence posts and cedar rails braced with thin stainless steel wire.

Diameter is about ten feet.

A description of the making process can be found here:
http://anartichoke.wordpress.com/wedding-canopy/

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