Origami Projects
You found one of the hidden pages on my website! While I enjoy working with electronics and such, another one of my avocations is modular origami! If you don't know what modular origami is, it is a paper folding technique that uses two or more sheets of paper to create a larger and more complex structure than would be possible using single-piece origami techniques.
As an elementary school student, I used to love single-piece origami. However, when middle school and the beginning of high school came around, I started to focus on my studies. When my high school Calculus teacher started to make her students build simple Sonobe Kusudamas, I tagged along, even though I was still in Algebra. This reignited my passion for origami and introduced me to the wonderful world of modular origami. When I realized that these Kusudamas followed the vertices and symmetry of Archimedean and Platonic Solids, my interest grew. I started discovering the wonderful works of Tomoko Fuse, Byriah Loper, Robert Lang, J.H. Chen, Xander Perrott, Aaron P, Daniel Kwan, and Khin Hooi. I have made a significant number of their works, and below are just a few of the sculptures I am most proud of.
Origami Twenty Interlocking Tetrahedra
K7 by @byriah_loper AKA 20 interlocking tetrahedra
Love this model, and another in the K series! I added units to my previous K3 model to make this into K7.
Origami Eight Interlocking Triangular Prisms
8 interlocking Triangular Prisms by Michal Pikula
When assembling this model, I cycled through three different models seen in Robert Lang's polypolyhedra. Would this be considered a poly-poly-poly-polyhedra?
Origami Twenty Interlocking Triangles
K3 by Byriah Loper
Another in my K series. Hope to turn this into K7 soon, and make each triangle a tetrahedra.
Businesscardahedra Dodecahedron
Dodecahedron designed by Harrison Ainsworth using business cards cut with specific patterns.
Businesscardahedra Icosahedron
Icosahedron designed by Harrison Ainsworth using business cards cut with specific patterns.
Businesscardahedra Cube
Cube designed by Harrison Ainsworth using business cards cut with specific patterns.
Businesscardahedra Octahedra
Octadron designed by Harrison Ainsworth using business cards cut with specific patterns.
Businesscardahedra Tetrahedra
Tetrahedron designed by Harrison Ainsworth using business cards cut with specific patterns.
Origami Business Card Cubeoctahedra
I can't recall where I found the designs for this. Maybe on the geometry junkyard? A very snug and easy model to fold and assemble.
Origami Twenty Interlocking Triangles
K4 by Byriah Loper
The joints in this model are way too delicate, as I scaled the model down too much. I also messed up the color scheme, but since it was so difficult to assemble at this scale, I'm still happy I was able to finish it.
Straw Twenty Interlocking Triangles
K2 made with plastic straws, assembled by me.
Continuing my series of different mediums, this is Robert Lang's K2 model of 20 interlocking triangles, made with straws instead of paper. Designed by Zachary Abel.
Origami Three Gyroelongated Square Dipyramids Remake
I remade this model using some higher quality paper and with better colors. I think this model has the potential to be very beautiful, but it is hard to nail the right color scheme and scale.
132 Interwoven Binder Clips
"Impenetraball" Designed by Zachary Abel, Assembled by me from 132 binder clips.
Zip-Tie Woven Cubeoctahedron Sculpture
"ZipTie Cubeoctahedron" designed by Andrea Hawksley. This was very fun to reverse engineer and assemble.
Six Strut Tensegrity Sculpture
Used some old square dowels to assemble this classic tensegrity structure.
Q-Tip Cubeoctahedron Sculpture
Found this idea on the IkeMath Instagram page. It is really fun to glue together because of the cuboectahedron's interesting properties.
Six Interlocking Binder Clips Sculpture
"Six Interlocking Binder Clips" by Zachary Abel
72 Pencils Sculpture
"72 Pencils" by @george.hart.sculptor
Origami Six Intersecting Pentagrams
"6 Intersecting Pentagrams #2" by Daniel Kwan. This model has the same unit design as #1 by @francescomanciniorigami , but has an octahedral symmetry instead of dodecahedral symmetry, with a weave that makes a much tighter model.
Origami Half Inverted Curler
"Half Inverted Curler" by me. The name indicates how only half of the peaks of the model are inverted. The original unit had no inversion, and @kh.art.craft 's version inverted both the middle and arms of the unit. My unit only inverts the middle of the unit, leaving an interesting effect. 30 units.
Origami Twenty Interlocking Tetrahedra
K13 by J.H. Chen (@origami0911 )
I know I said I was going to take a break from origami, but once in a while, I stumble on a model so enticing that I can't set it down until it is done. This model is one of those where I fell in love with the weave. Although I just converted my old K2, this was still difficult to assemble, and it felt as if the model was fighting me at every step. At one point, I realized the original K2 model was woven incorrectly, so I had to disassemble a large chunk of the existing model and rebuild it.
Origami Pentilope
"Pentilope" by @origami0911
The weave of this model is not very intuitive, but I am happy I folded this one! I made it two-toned after being inspired by some flowers in our garden.
I understood the weave much better when I realized it was a 3D representation of a 5-point star, where instead of each 2D point being made up of two edges, each point in the star weave is made up of 5 intersecting edges, where each unit represents an edge of a star.
Origami Six Interlocking Squares
Six Interlocking Squares (fit version) by @origami0911
Using a MacKenzie-child's color scheme, black and speckled white paper, I was able to achieve some interesting patterns and symmetry. A very fun model that can be made in one sitting!
Origami Five Wrinkled Octahedra
"5 Wrinkled Octahedra" by Daniel Kwan :
This is easily one of my favorite and largest models, both size and unit-wise. The units are pretty complex, so folding all 60 units took very long compared to assembly time.
While most people making this model will opt for the bottom-up assembly method, you can see that I assembled this model one octahedron at a time, which gave me a better appreciation for its geometry.
Origami Four Interlocking Twisted Triangular Bipyramids V2
"4 interlocking twisted triangular bipyramids (v2) " by @origami0911
This model is a great intermediate between FIT and more complex woven wireframe models. The colors make this model pop!
Origami Curler #2
🌚🌚🌚 by @plmlntln
180 units
Much more dense than the Mother's Day design, this curler has 60 more units than the other one, and was made at 2/3s the scale of the previous one.
Origami Curler #1
Here is a curler inspired by @plmlntln
This was made as a Mother's Day gift, and it was definitely worth it! It's much more stable and dense compared to my previous attempt a year back. I plan on revisiting this model with a different scale and color scheme.
Origami Four Interlocking Triangular Prisms #2
Daniel Kwan's "Four Interlocking Triangular Prisms #2"
I previously made @origami0911's version of "Four Interlocking Triangular Prisms #1", and ever since, this model has been on my to-do list.
Origami Four Interlocking Tetrahedra +1 #2
"The Fifth #2" by @francescomanciniorigami
This is a personal favorite piece, and because it shares the same unit ratio, I used the units from my deconstructed K6 to make this one.
Origami Four Interlocking Tetrahedra +1 #1
"The Fifth #1" by @francescomanciniorigami
This one is also a bit chaotic, but a very nice model as well. In this case, the white tetrahedron is flipped 180 right side up relative to the other tetrahedron when compared to #2.
Origami Five Intersecting Squares
"Five Intersecting Squares" by @byriah_loper
This is the first in the wireframe planar series. Ill continue this with a revision of six intersecting pentagrams, and seven hexagons.
Origami Three Gyroelongated Square Dipyramids
"26 Rupees" By Daniel Kwan
"3 Gyroelongated Square Dipyramids: The name is really not that confusing if you break it down one prefix at a time. I nicknamed this model "26 Rupees" specifically for folding it from green, blue, and red, because that would be it's value in rupees from the Zelda game series (1 + 5 + 20). This instance of the model is technically 71 rupees (1 + 20 + 50)
The unit is actually extremely simple to describe.
If you are already familiar with the Francis Ow 60 degree unit (if not, go here kahuna.merrimack.edu/~thull/fit.html )
Instead of folding it from a 1 x 3, use a 1 x 4... Then, just add two 30-degree (or 60, depending on how you think about it) crimps, one on either side of the unit, and each 1/3 from the ends of the unit. At each corner of the crimps, add 60-degree creases to emphasize the triangular faces of the completed shape."
Origami Five Intersecting Tetrahedra
5 Intersecting Tetrahedra or FIT. Designed by Thomas Hull. I made this out of scrap paper from my K6—a really fun, simple model to make in one sitting.
Origami 10 Equatorially Diminished Triangular Dipyramids
"10 Equatorially Diminished Triangular Dipyramids" by Aaron P
This is a simplification of Byriah Lopers Interstellar, where each of the points seen are truncated in his design. Instead of 60 units, I doubled the length of each unit and placed a 120 degree crimp in the center. This was a very fun and challenging weave!
Origami Ten Interlocking Triangles
"10 Interlocking Triangles" by @origami0911
I saw this model on his flicker, and I also deconstructed my k6 for units, so I built this one.
I love how curvy the model turns out, and how surprisingly stable it is. I would use slightly smaller units next time around, but a fun model nonetheless.
Origami Eight Interlocking Triangles
"Double Gasherbrum" by @byriah_loper
This is the first "double" Lang polypolyhedra that I have made. It is much tighter than my original Gasherbrum, which I like a lot. I made it from scrap paper I had from the 4 interlocking triangularly distorted dipoles I posted earlier, hence the color scheme.
Origami Three Interlocking Rhombi
"Three Interlocking Rhombi" by Martin Sejer Anderson
Originally designed by TK Lam, this model has made its laps around the wireframe community. While some like the openness of TK Lams version, I prefer this version much more due to how tight it is.
Origami Five Interlocking Octahedrally Distorted Tetrahedra
"Five Interlocking Octahedrally Distorted Tetrahedra" by Martin Sejer Andersen
This model looks the most complex, but when you see the single frame, it becomes much easier to conceptualize. I love the weave as it is very very easy. If you can fold the FIT, you can probably fold this as well.
Origami Six Interlocking Pentagonal Prisms
"Crystal Stars" by Hideaki Kawashima.
Loose leaf paper has to be the most difficult paper to work with when it comes to wireframes. I will never run out of astrobright again!!
Origami Twelve Intersecting Pentagons
12 Intersecting pentagons by @origami0911
I really liked the colors on this one. 60 units.
Origami Four Interlocking Triangularly Distorted Dipoles
"Four Interlocking Triangularly Distorted Dipoles" by @byriah_loper
This is @langorigami polypolyhedron #10 in origami form. For those who want to make it, it is a 1:2.5 ratio with 60⁰ ow and 120⁰ ooh angles. The weave is the most difficult part, as even after I have made this, I still don't understand it.
Various Origami Tesselations
These are some of my very early attempts at origami tesselations. In the future, I plan on using larger paper.
Origami Two Interlocking Triangles
"2 Interlocking Triangles #2" Designed by @dirk.eisner
Origami Two Interlocking Tetrahedra #3
"2 Interlocking Tetrahedra #3" Designed by @dirk.eisner
Assembly was very difficult. Although it may seem like a simple model, it takes lots of patience to assemble without wrinkles.
Origami Two Interlocking Tetrahedra #2
"2 Interlocking Tetrahedra #2" Designed by @dirk.eisner
Origami Two Interlocking Tetrahedra #1
"2 Interlocking Tetrahedra #1" Designed by @dirk.eisner
Origami Magic Dodecahedron
Twelve-unit Magic Frame Dodecahedron by Origami0911
-3:5 ratio paper
-12 units
Yet another very simple model which tests my crimping skills. As described by the designer, this model seems almost magical that it uses only twelve units to make a dodecahedral model. What I find interesting is that each unit used corresponds to one side of the dodecahedron, and the neighboring units only provide one more side of the 5 edge face. There is also a missing side to each of the 12 sides, which is also interesting.
Origami Six Joint Tetrahedron
Six Joint Tetrahedron
-2:3 ratio paper
-12 units
Another simple model which is very nice looking, and a bit counterintuitive. This was a great model to test my crimping abilities, as it contains two different size crimps in the middle of the unit.
Origami Twisted Truncated Tetrahedron
N27/Ankh/Twisted Truncated Tetrahedron by Neal Godse
-1:4 and 1:2 ratio paper
-18 units
Simple, quick, and really good-looking perfectly describe this model. If you can make FIT, you can easily make this as it shares the same unit design, but with two different ratios.
Origami Twenty Interlocking Tetrahedra
Twenty interlocking tetrahedra by @byriah_loper
-1:3 ratio paper
-120 units
This model started out as a Robert Lang polypolypolyhedra. When Byriah Loper made the model of twenty interlocking triangles, he thought to also add 3 extra units to each triangle, making them tetrahedra. The resulting polyhedra makes an illusionary FIT, which you can see by looking at the 4 tetrahedra with the same color. They form another tetrahedra. If you look at all of the imaginary tetrahedra, it forms another FIT with dodecahedral symmetry.
This model took me over a month. While the weave is pretty easy, the assembly is very difficult without help.
Origami Six Interlocking Parallel Rectangles
Origami Twenty Interlocking Triangles
K2 by Robert Lang. This is the fourth of his Himalayan Peaks.
It is based on the classic FIT.
-ratio:1:6
-60 units
Origami Spiral Cube 1
My variation of @origami0911 Spiral Cube 1.
I couldn't make the workshop so I wanted to reverse engineer the cp.
My variation is using the SEU(Simple Edge Unit) and the classic wrinkle and joint. 24 Units
Playing Card Dodecahedron
Dodecahedral model by @george.hart.sculptor . Not origami, but each card represents an edge of a dodecahedron. However, the stars formed make the model look more like the great inverted snub dodecahedron.
8w
Origami Five Intersecting Wrinkled Tetrahedra
Five Intersecting Wrinkled Tetrahedra by @origami0911
Instructions will be available in his upcoming book.
I love how the majority of his models use identical units.
Origami Six Intersecting Squares
Six intersecting squares.
This was designed by Jorge C Lucero. Each color represents an axis.
24 units with a 4.5:10 ratio paper
Origami Different Ratio Bascetta Unit
I played around with the ratios of the Bascetta star by @paolo.bascetta and got this.
90 units made out of copy paper.
Origami Four Intersecting Wrinkled Irregular Hexagon
Four intersecting wrinkled irregular hexagon by @origami0911 folded out of copy paper.
Origami Nested Bascetta Star Skella Gamma
Bascetta star nested in skella gamma icosahedron. I used scrap paper for the skella gamma and 2-inch square kami paper for the Bascetta star.
By @paolo.bascetta and @mariasinayskaya
Origami 120 Unit Curler Var2
120 unit curler variation by @kh.art.craft with dodecahedral symmetry.
Folded from square cut copy paper.
Origami 120 Unit Curler Var1
120 unit curler #Kusudama by @kh.art.craft with dodecahedral symmetry.
Folded out of square cut copy paper
5 Fold Symmetry
3 Fold Symmetry
5 Fold Symmetry
Origami Six Intersecting Pentagons
Makalu by Robert Lang. This is the second in his series of Himalayan peaks, being the second easiest after Gasherbrum. Its technical name is Six Intersecting Pentagons. 30 units of 1:2 ratio paper.
Instructions here.
4 Fold Symmetry
3 Fold Symmetry
4 Fold Symmetry
Origami Four Intersecting Triangles
Gasherbrum by Robert Lang. He named a few of his models after the Himalayan peaks, hence Gasherbrum. Easiest Himalayan peak to fold. Its technical name is Four Intersecting Triangles. I used Francis Ow's 60-degree unit with 1:2 ratio paper.
3 Fold Symmetry
5 Fold Symmetry
3 Fold Symmetry
Origami Six Intersecting Pentagrams
This has the same symmetry and weave of Makalu, but all angles are accentuated. This was designed by Francesco Mancini using his Star Holes Unit. Instructions here.
Banana for scale
Banana for scale
Origami Five Intersecting Tetrahedra
5 Intersecting Tetrahedra or FIT. Designed by Thomas Hull. I made this over the course of 4 days. Each unit of the 30 used has an edge length of 90 cm. Really fun project to accomplish. I think I now have the biggest FIT made to date! Another good example of polypolyhedra. Instructions here.
Folded from 30:90 cm paper.
First Four
Origami Sixteen Intersecting triangles
16 interlocking triangles designed by Byriah Loper. A good example of polypolyhedra.
This was a tough one, but once I understood the weave, it was pretty intuitive. Folded out of 1:4 in kami paper. I used Francis Ow's 60-degree unit and reverse-engineered the weave.
pretty self explanatory...
pretty self explanatory...
Origami Cumulated Octahedron
This is my Cumulated Octahedron.
Designed by me
Folded out of 30 6-in square kami paper
Too big...
Too big...
Origami Pentakis Dodecahedron
This is my Pentakis Dodecahedron, made using Lewis Simon's triangle edge unit. 90 units of 6 in square paper. This may have been my first modular origami piece!
Too big...
Origami Wrinkled Rhombic Tricontahedron
This is my Wrinkled Rhombic Tricontahedron by @origami0911.
Folded from cardstock. My first of many wireframe models! Instructions here.
The inside shows the complexity of the Little Turtle Unit.
Origami Rhomicosidodecahedron
120 Unit Rhombicosidodecahedron(impossible to spell correctly) made from Tomoko Fuse's Little Turtle units. This Archamedian solid has triangles, pentagons, and squares... all the shapes found in the Platonic solids!
I especially like the inside view, because it is an insight into how complex the units are. The units are a bit flimsy when this many are used. I ended up using a bit of glue on each joint for reinforcement. Instructions for the unit are here.
Origami 2V Geodesic Sphere
90 Units Skella Alpha truncated icosahedron by @mariasinayskaya
I love these units! They are very versatile for any type of geodesic sphere. While this can be called a truncated icosahedfdron, it can also be called by its geodesic classification: which is 2v
Origami Four Intersecting Wrinkled Triangular Prisms
4 interlocking wrinkled triangular prisms by @origami0911 . Folded from cardstock. This is probably one of my favorite intersecting models because of its compactness, and its simplicity, needing only one type of unit for the whole model.
Origami Curler
This was an experiment of mine. I wanted to see if I could make archimedean solids from a simple type of unit. I ended up using 90 units to make this compact sphere. Very fun!
Origami 120 Unit No-Fold Curler
This model was designed by @kh.art.craft. Requiring no folds, and only curls, this model is surprisingly sturdy. The tension of the combined paper holds this piece together. Very interesting!
Curled out of 1:1.75 in cardstock
Origami Fish Curler
This model was designed by @ekaterina.lukasheva where it uses a fish base to form the curls. This was made up of 30 units, each requiring precision curling due to the small size.
Folded from 2 in square kami paper. Banana for scale.
Origami Rose Unit Embedded in PhiZZ Bucky Ball
The Rose unit was designed by Tomoko Fuse. 1:2 in kami paper. The Phizz unit was designed by Thomas Hull. 2 in square kami paper. The interesting thing about this piece is that each rose unit has a corresponding phizz unit trapping it in. Therefore this model needed 60 units to complete.
Miniature Origami
These are my Miniature Origami Kusudamas. Banana for scale.
30 Unit sonobe folded from 1 in square paper.
Omega star designed by Philip Shen and folded from 2 in square copy paper.
Simplified Bird tetrahedron by Tomoko Fuse folded from 2 in square copy paper.
3 Fold Symmetry
3 Fold Symmetry
Origami Bascetta Star
Bascetta Star by @paolo.bascetta . Folded out of 2 in square Kami paper. 30 Units. What is interesting about this kusudama, is that if you hold two opposing peaks with two fingers, you can blow and spin the model in your hand!
5 Fold Symmetry
3 Fold Symmetry
5 Fold Symmetry
Origami 30 Unit Classic Curler
This is my Origami Kusudama Curler.
It was designed by Herman Van Goubergen. I folded it out of 2 in square cardstock with 2 colors.
Origami 30 Unit Classic Curler
This is my Origami Kusudama Curler.
It was designed by Herman Van Goubergen. I folded it out of 3 in square kami with 3 colors.
Origami Sonobe Truncated Icosahedron
This is where my origami journey started! I made 90 units of 2-inch paper from all of my failed Latin grades to form something beautiful! There is no hiding the fact that I failed 6 quizzes, but at least I can show them off in a nice way.