Open House
Open House
Pop-up cards, from a sentence. Describe a house, or hand over any hand-inked drawing, and it comes back printed on a card that lifts off the paper into 3D. Turn it round, cut it open, take it apart, then fold it flat again.
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && curl -fsSL https://april-zhu.com/openhouseskill/openhouse.tar.gz | tar -xz -C ~/.claude/skillsPaste in Terminal. Using Claude.ai? Other ways to install.
What every house comes with
A real 3D model
The house lifts off the printed card. Drag to turn it round, then fold it flat again.
Cut-out view
Slice the walls away and see every room inside, furnished.
Labelled exploded view
The house comes apart floor by floor, each part named.
Daily-life cards
Tap an everyday activity and watch it happen in the cut-out, with a card on the story behind it.
Demo
Live, right here. Drag to turn it, cut it open, take it apart, or press a daily-life activity and watch it happen inside.
Life inside the houses
Every house comes with its own cards of daily life: the breakfast, the ritual, the chore, the game. Each one is a close-up drawing with a few lines on what it is and why it matters.
Every house comes apart
Ask for an exploded view and the house lifts apart in layers, each part labelled, so you can see how it is built. It rises off the card apart, then settles together.
A figure, a card, one command
The card is made from the figure itself: the flat print and the standing object are one drawing, laid flat on the card, then stood up through a real 3D camera.
Make one with Colorfigures (describe an object in one line), or bring one you already have.
A few words and a colour for the card: its name, a second line, a sentence, an accent.
{ "title": "The Tulou",
"place": "Fujian",
"accent": "#8c5a24" }Claude runs the build. The card is one HTML file that works on its own, on a phone too.
python3 scripts/build.py \ tulou.html card.json card.html
Embed a card with ?embed=1 and tell it when to rise, fold or sleep.
frame.contentWindow.postMessage({ oh: 'rise' }, '*')
// also 'fold', 'sleep', 'wake'Install
One command
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && curl -fsSL https://april-zhu.com/openhouseskill/openhouse.tar.gz | tar -xz -C ~/.claude/skillsPaste in Terminal, then restart Claude Code.
Upload the skill
Download openhouse.skill ↓Upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then switch it on.
Drop in the folder
Unzip and move the openhouse folder into ~/.claude/skills/ (or .claude/skills/ inside a project). Works best next to Colorfigures, which draws the figure.
FAQ
Is it free?
Yes, for personal use and for fun. Make cards of your own house, your hometown, places you love, and share them.
Can I use it for commercial work or sell what I make?
No. Please don't resell the skill or the cards it makes, and don't use them in commercial work, client projects or products.
What do I need to run it?
Claude Code, or Claude.ai with skills switched on. The install steps above cover both.
How long does a house take?
About 40 minutes for a full house. The Kerala nalukettu, with its cut-out, labelled architecture view and five daily-life scenes, took 42 minutes in one Claude Code session. A simpler house with fewer scenes is quicker.
How many tokens does it use?
The nalukettu used about 200k output tokens. Claude also re-reads the conversation on every step, which adds a lot of cached input, but that is billed at a much lower rate.
Which model should I use?
Claude Opus 5.5. All five houses here were built with it. Gemini Argon may give you good results too.
Can I start from my own drawing?
Yes. Hand over any hand-inked isometric figure and it comes back printed on a pop-up card. It works best next to Colorfigures, which draws the figure.