This one is made from 30 individual units and there’s no glue or tape. The red and silver colours in this design are awesome. Image source: Little Turtle, Designed by Tomoko Fuse and Folded by Rainer Bergĭiagrams available in Unit Origami: Multidimensional Transformations Here’s another great little model that almost resembles a turtle. Image source: Designed and Folded by Maria Sinayskayaīasic instructions for the units are available here The colours of the paper you use have a huge impact. Image source: Sierpinski Triangles, Designed and Folded by Andrey Ermakov It’s folded from 24 separate units and the designs are fantastic. This is a very unique kusudama design because you don’t normally see this much detail on the faces of the shapes. Image source: Caliope, Designed and Folded by Ekaterina Lukasheva There’s no glue, tape or anything like that here. It’s folded using some of Peter Keller’s excellent paper. Our first kusudama for this post is by Ekaterina Lukasheva who is definitely one of the top kusudama designers out there. Because kusudamas are made from multiple units you can use different coloured paper for some absolutely beautiful results and patterns. You often see kusudamas hanging from a string and a lot of them have fancy tassels hanging from the bottom as well. However if you’re making a kusudama to display and you want to use a bit of tape or glue to make sure it doesn’t fall apart we won’t judge you.

A lot of kusudama designs are made in such a way that all the pieces will fit together strongly and you won’t even need glue. If you’re an origami purist then you make kusudamas without any sort of glue, tape or string to hold the units together. They were originally used for incense and potpourri which I guess is where the name comes from. The word “kusudama” literally means “Medicine Ball” when translated from Japanese. These 3D shapes have a lot of symmetry, though not as much as the Platonic solids.Kusudamas are modular origami models where multiple units are fit together to form a ball-like shape.

Questions about larger models will lead you to the Archimedean solids and the Johnson solids. Questions about coloring will lead you to the mathematics of graphs and networks (and big questions that remained unsolved for many centuries). One seemingly innocent question can easily lead to a mathematical rabbit hole. Once you've mastered the basic structure of each 3D shape, you may find yourself (as others have done) pondering deeper mathematical questions.Ĭan you arrange the sonobe units so two units of the same color never touch, if you only have three colors?Īre larger symmetric shapes possible? (Answer: yes!)Īre there relationships between the different 3D shapes? (For example, the icosahedron is basically built of triangles, but can you spot the pentagons lurking within? Or the triangles in the dodecahedron?) Sonobe units, like these ones piled in a stack, can be put together to create 3D shapes. So, for a little effort you are rewarded with a vast number of models to explore. Many modular origami patterns, although they may use different units, have a similar method of combining units into a bigger creation. The building blocks, called units, are typically straightforward to fold the mathematical skill comes in assembling the larger structure and discovering the patterns within them. That's where you use several pieces of folded paper as 'building blocks' to create a larger, often symmetrical structure.

Any piece of origami will contain mathematical ideas and skills, and can take you on a fascinating, creative journey.Īs a geometer (mathematician who studies geometry), my favorite technique is modular origami. I'm a mathematician whose hobby is origami, and I love introducing people to mathematical ideas through crafts like paper folding. Both activities, however, share similar skills: precision, the ability to follow an algorithm, an intuition for shape, and a search for pattern and symmetry.

Modular origami 30 units