SpaceframeSCAD: Large-scale light-up sculptures, 3D printed, portable in a ziploc bag

Maker Faire Bay Area 2025

September 26th-28th

I wanted to make illuminated sculptures, but I only have so much room to work with. Thus, I asked myself "How would I make something that looks neat but fits into a ziploc bag?”

Around the same time, I'd been browsing through the NASA Tech Report Server to look at the wealth of papers from the 1980s. I realized that the classic concept art renditions of Space Station Freedom was only really scratching the surface of NASA's ambitions to build giant structures in orbit, all in trusses and with great consideration to the size and weight of the structure.

These helped me make SpaceframeSCAD, a tool to build parametrically defined pieces to build a variety of structures that can be assembled into site-specific illuminated sculptures. Surprisingly, my tool extended beyond light-up sculptures and artwork the node system lets build tomato cages that can transform into a greenhouse when spring arrives, making my garden look more like out of the set of Star Trek.