Adventures in Paper: Stairs, Mountains, and More

This time around let's take a look at kirigami, which translates literally into "cut paper". There are many styles of kirigami, but my favorite, and the one I've spent the most time practicing is all about having the paper folded at 90 degree angles. It creates a three dimensional effect that I think is pretty cool. Here is the first design I learned.

So with just a few cuts of the paper and a few inverted folds you can create the illusion of depth and volume. The illusion only works at 90 degrees, however. It closes up like pop-up book, or it would flatten out if you opened it all the way. Here's another example.

Another thing I really like about kirigami is how much freedom you have. There are some basic structural limitations that I quickly learned, but the possibilities are still numerous. Even though it doesn't have the same clean look, I've been using graph paper to experiment because it's a shortcut around the boring tedium of measuring out every fold. All the designs below are my own that I worked out through trial and error.

This one was an early attempt to break from the shackles of symmetrical balance. Does it resemble a house? A printer? A fireplace? Who knows.

I call this one "Desolation of the Mind's Fortitude and Persistent Agony". If that doesn't make sense, you're not looking hard enough.

One of the most fun things to cut are stairs. As my Grandpa used to say, "Let's get all Escher up in this bitch."

Here's another that would be dangerous if it existed in life size. What can I say? Japanese paper art just isn't wheelchair accessible.

This is an early attempt at a mountain shape, but I think it ended up looking more like a cake.

Here's my favorite I've done so far. Every time I look at it I think about Death Mountain or Minas Tirith.

Here's another angle. Actually, I've found that using the graph paper gives everything a cool blocky pixelated look that I quite enjoy. It makes things look like an 8 bit game extending into 3D or like the game Minecraft.

Here's another attempt at making some sort of mountain terrain. It's got a bridge and everything! Unfortunately with more cuts and more complicated folds the paper becomes less stable and doesn't stand up well on it's own. This is the price of awesomeness.

Here it is in collapsed form. As you can see, kirigami is not only fun, it's folds up to easily fit under your bed. How practical!

That's all for now. I may do another kirigami post in the future, but I think next time I will introduce you to the versatile "Sonobe" and the madness of modular origami.