Dezeen Magazine

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

London Design Festival 2011: designers Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies showed off their folding boat that's made from a single, standard-sized sheet of plastic at Multiplex at The Dock last week. 

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

The Foldboat comes in two versions that either collapse into a portable parcel or flatten for easy storage.

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

Each is equipped with a pair of oars made from ash with plastic blades, plus waterproof, floating cushions that can users can cling onto if the boat should capsize.

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

The boat was first presented at Show RCA this summer, where we also spotted Frommeld's Hose Clip Shelving.

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

See more stories about boats on Dezeen here and more coverage of the London Design Festival here.

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

The information below is from Frommeld and Mathies:


Foldboat is a rowing boat made from a standard sized sheet of plastic. By manipulating the material, we have created live hinges allowing you to fold and un-fold the plastic sheet into the shape of a boat.

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

Currently two versions of Foldboat exist, made using the live-hinge principle. Version one is designed to fold into a small parcel of 1m50 x 60cm, targeted at users who have limited storage space, particularly in urban environments. Version two does not fold into a transport pack and instead remains in a flat sheet of 2m50 x 1m50. Boat 2 is designed for boat renting companies or NGO's in the case of flood hazards. Both boats require 2 minutes to be assembled by two people.

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

For ‘Multiplex at The Dock’ event hosted by Tom Dixon, we have created 5 bespoke and exclusive boats named ‘The Dock Edition’ that uses Boat 2 as a base.

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies

The boats are available for sale and are equipped with a pair of oars (ash + plastic used for boat) and a pair of waterproof pillows for comfort and safety purposes (pillows are water tight and float).

Foldboat by Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies