Sometimes, it’s not necessity that’s the mother of invention, but a small apartment. In 2008, architect Anton Willis moved from rural California to San Francisco. There wasn’t room for his fiberglass ...

When Anton Willis invented the portable, origami-influenced Oru Kayak in 2012, he very quickly wound up with a Kickstarter hit on his hands. The kayak earned $443,806 in crowdsourced funding (Willis’s ...

Earlier this year, Inhabitat was excited to introduce you to Oru, the Origami Kayak. The 12-foot-long, 25-inch-wide elegant, one-man kayak folds into its own compact carrying case, making it easy to ...

“You’re going on the Devils — in that?” asked the Texas river guide. He was referencing our choice of watercraft, which at that time was folded down to the size of a card table. His concerned look and ...

While the story of Oru Kayak’s viral startup has been told many times, little has been written about its performance on the water. Oru Kayaks redefined “folding boats” with its origami-inspired design ...

The Earth’s waters are rising. Since 1880, global warming has increased the world’s sea level by eight inches, and climate scientists report that the rate of this rise will only accelerate (to the ...

Just a couple of months ago, we first heard about the Oru – a prototype touring kayak made from corrugated plastic, that can be folded up and carried like an art portfolio. Designer Anton Willis and ...

The Inlet, which launched on Kickstarter today, promises to bring a slew of nice refinements to the Oru formula. For instance, the boat weighs just 20 pounds, which the company says is 36% lighter ...

Ever since Oru introduced its first origami-style folding kayak back in 2012, other brands have come out with boats that were claimed to be lighter and more compact. Oru has now addressed that ...

Kayaking is one of summer’s most relaxing and enjoyable water sports, but owning your own boat is a near impossibility if you live in an apartment or small home. Luckily, the days of trying to stuff a ...