origami, kirigami, architecture, buildings, paper, folding, cutting, Help, Advice, Patterns, Designs, Granville
Origami Architecture
I came across this craft by accident when I was searching for other things I could do with a piece of card and a craft knife. I wanted something a little bit out of the ordinary and something that would be a bit of a challenge.
I read about the hobby of making folding cards and, whilst they have a place, some of them were very simple. I considered folding books too but most of them are quite simple, being just a front cut out with just a few supporting struts behind.
Nothing appealed to me until I came across work by two artists, Masahiro Chatani and Ingrid Siliakus, who specialise in kirigami, or Japanese paper cutting, and produce unbelievable works of art from a single sheet of cut card. Before you read any further can I suggest you do an image search on Google to see what I mean. I haven’t included one of their pictures as an example since I don’t want you to compare my work with theirs. I can’t even begin to tread in their footsteps. The difference being that these guys have actually designed their artwork whereas I am struggling to even reproduce a simple copy of a part of what they’ve done. Their complex designs are original and have been created by amazing forethought.
There are a few simplified patterns around on the internet but they take some time to find and some of the models I’ve done have been cut from these designs. They’re often difficult to follow and badly printed but if you can get over that some of them produce very impressive results.
Kirigami is a simple concept. You cut many lines in a sheet of card absolutely precisely, fold the card intricately in the right way from both front and back and eventually, after a great deal of teasing and coercion and provided you haven’t missed a single cut, the whole thing will fold flat. To design one of these things from scratch is a virtual impossibility unless you have some sort of inane mental capacity. I’ve succeeded with simple one or two piece sections but they’ve taken hours and come about usually through accident.
If you want to try kirigami and would like to do something other than copy other people’s designs there is an excellent piece of software available called PopUp Card Studio. It’s not a free package but I think you can download a free trial version. Although it’s meant for people producing pop-up cards it’s very, very clever insofar as you can design a 3D model visually and the software will then calculate how to make it fold flat. You can watch your model pop up and down and move it around in 3D – all clever stuff, but you need to be fairly committed to the craft before you decide to invest.
I used PopUp Card Studio to create the perpetual step model below although I have to admit to buying it on a whim and have not really taking full advantage of the purchase
I designed this model myself using PopUp Card Studio software.
Neither the design or the folding is absolutely perfect but I think it creates a pleasing effect.
Neither the design or the folding is absolutely perfect but I think it creates a pleasing effect.
This is my favourite of the models I've made.
It amazes me that you can produce such flowing curves and depth from a single sheet of card.
Note that the entire model is a reflection around the central axis
It amazes me that you can produce such flowing curves and depth from a single sheet of card.
Note that the entire model is a reflection around the central axis
I should say that it doesn’t have to be architectural things you design. I just that I have an interest in buildings and I felt that the technique looked its most spectacular when applied to architecture. It also allowed for larger pieces to be produced and indeed some of the most impressive things I’ve seen have been cut from A3 and even A2 sheets.
You need an eye for detail when cutting the design, especially on some of the smaller features which are what give the finished item a professional look and allow the model to fold flat. Folding the cut sheet can be very difficult although it’s a technique which comes about with practice. The thing to remember is that you are trying to make the model fold flat so make sure every fold is in the right direction (either front or back) and as sharp as possible.
Eventually I became a little frustrated that I was never ever going to be able to make things like Masahiro Chatani and Ingrid Siliakus. I was also unable to find any more free templates of the complexity I wanted and, despite my new software, unable to design my own. In my naivety I had envisioned some large major project which never materialised (or at least hasn’t yet) so I’m afraid to say my enthusiasm ebbed and I returned back to my glass projects.
Just one final postscript. A lovely guy called Joseph O'Rourke, who is professor of mathematics at Smith College, Massachusetts, contacted me via this website during the Covid lockdown to ask if he could use one of my models in his new book studying the mathematics behind pop-up cards. I knew I would get into print one day but perhaps not for that reason !!
Joseph's book is of course available on Amazon if you want to study this fascinating subject further.
Eventually I became a little frustrated that I was never ever going to be able to make things like Masahiro Chatani and Ingrid Siliakus. I was also unable to find any more free templates of the complexity I wanted and, despite my new software, unable to design my own. In my naivety I had envisioned some large major project which never materialised (or at least hasn’t yet) so I’m afraid to say my enthusiasm ebbed and I returned back to my glass projects.
Just one final postscript. A lovely guy called Joseph O'Rourke, who is professor of mathematics at Smith College, Massachusetts, contacted me via this website during the Covid lockdown to ask if he could use one of my models in his new book studying the mathematics behind pop-up cards. I knew I would get into print one day but perhaps not for that reason !!
Joseph's book is of course available on Amazon if you want to study this fascinating subject further.