Origami from Sky and Space

Hot Air Balloon

2007
Extending the Origami From Space approach to other curvy flying objects with polar symmetry, here is a Hot Air Balloon complete with basket. I seem to be getting better at this style; this model is easier to fold than either the UFO or Rocket Ship.

Flying Saucer

2006
This model is a companion to the rocket ship, and is similar in technique as well as in theme.

Crease pattern for Flying Saucer

Rocket Ship

2005
This model represents a new design approach for me. It is in part a result of the to work I've been doing the last few years exploring polyhedra. I've been getting more and more into curved surfaces and approaches for modeling them, and at the same time looking for something more representational to explore as subject matter. This is one of the first successes in the direction. The rocket is fully three-dimensional and the surface is made up of a facets which approximate a curved surface.

Crease pattern for Rocket Ship

Origami Architecture

Castle (Armory)

2009
After I designed my origami tower I realized I could combine several towers on one sheet to form a castle. I came up with a bunch of prototypes with several successful layouts. The Armory is a square configuration with a large tower in each corner.

Castle Explorations

2009
The cool thing about using a tessellation as a base is that it basically gives you a small square in the middle of your main square. The number, size and position of the small square can be manipulated, so it is very flexible.

The first was what I’m now calling the Grand Castle. The idea was to have one large central tower surrounded by a wall with four smaller towers at the corners. Once I started folding it I realized that I would also have a tower in the center of each edge wall, resulting in a total of nine towers. A second version, called the Armory is a single block of a building with four towers in the corners and no central tower. The third one is called the Castle Keep. It consists of six towers in two groups. In the front is a gatehouse flanked by two small guard. In the back is a a large tower with a hall on each side. In between is a central courtyard.

Now I’m thinking I can combine the castle technology with some ideas from the Origami from Space series to create all kinds of domes and spires, and virtually any kind of architectural structure.

Tower

2009
I had the idea for some time to make an origami War Elephant, basically an elephant with a castle on its back, and maybe some bigger tougher tusks and other scary-looking armaments. The tower I had in mind had crenulated battlements ringing the top, and something resembling arches on the sides. I had tried a few other approaches to the tower but none of them was very good. This time I started with just the simple base, and it worked out really well. In this simple tower all the edges of the paper are along the bottom edge, so it should be fairly straightforward to embed it in a larger square.

Objects from the World

Adirondack Canoe

2008
One of a set of Adirondack themed models, commissioned by Adirondack Life Magazine. It features a more realistic and sculptural design than many of the traditional boats out there, and even has a little bench. I'm pleased with the simplicity of this model, too. It's only 11 steps to fold.

Adirondack Chair

2008
Another Adirondack themed commission, perhaps the definitive one. This one took a fair amount of experimentation with the proportions. Once the basic shape was established a lot of effort went into making the legs hold together and into the detail on the backrest.