It’s not often that you see a designer throw their creation on the ground and break it to smithereens. But that’s exactly what TED Fellow Skylar Tibbits does in the video above. Why? Because he works in the Self-Assembly Lab at MIT. When the pieces break apart, they quickly re-assemble themselves, as if the film were playing in reverse.

In this video, Tibbits also explains his concept of 4D printing. “We wanted to add time to 3D printing,” he explains.

This video is the latest in the Fellows in the Field series, which bring together young filmmakers and innovative thinkers who are a part of our TED Fellows program. It was directed and edited by Daniel Monico and was made with the support of State Street.

Watch another amazing Fellows in the Field video, about a tool that may help micro-entrepreneurs in the developing world get formal loans »