Welcome to the Magical World of Origamic Architecture
There will be in an Origamic Architecture display
at the Somerville Public Library
For those who have seen this
display before, there are about 6-7 new pieces since the Manville
Library I hope you enjoy seeing the Origamic Architecture! |
What is Origamic Architecture?
Origamic Architecture (also known as origami architecture) is a papercraft
form which combines the careful folding of origami, the detailed cutting
of scherenschnitte, and the precise paper engineering of pop-ups. Unlike
traditional pop-ups, these paper models are usually cut and folded from one
sheet of paper. They can be folded flat for storage or mailing in conventional
envelopes, but when they're unfolded ... magic happens as each card pops
up into an amazing and delightful 3-dimensional structure. Some models are
meant to be viewed open at a 180° or 360° angle and, a few, at
0° (these are actually overlapping collages), but most origamic architecture
cards are designed to be displayed open at a 90° angle.
Top left, down: Ponte di Rialto, Taos Pueblo,
Sun-Marina Hotel
Top right, down: Parthenon, Himeji Castle*,
Alhambra Court of Lions
OA models designed by Masahiro Chatani and Keiko Nakazawa*,
executed by K. Selena Kim.
Photos by K. S. Kim © 1997. All rights reserved. Scan provided courtesy
of G. Stormer.
The original concept for origamic architecture was developed in 1981 by
Masahiro Chatani, a professor of architecture at the prestigious Tokyo
Institute of Technology. Many of his designs reflect his expertise
in architecture, however, you don't need a background in architecture to
enjoy this papercraft. The co-author of several of Chatani's books,
Keiko Nakazawa, has a background in dance which perhaps influences
her use of graceful, flowing, fluid lines in her OA designs.
Although mass-produced, ready-made OA cards are available for purchase, Chatani and Nakazawa have published over 30 pattern books which allow everyone to enjoy crafting origamic architecture cards on their own, utilizing personalized choices in paper, model size, and embellishments. From these patterns, many wonderful architectural, floral, animal, geometric, and other fun models can be created.
Top left, down: Taj Mahal* (next
to a CD), Flower Garden†, Teddy Bear with Toy
Blocks
Top right, down: Chrysler Building (next to a quarter),
Chrysanthemum
OA models designed by Keiko Nakazawa, Masahiro Chatani*, and
Tamami Yamaguchi†, executed by K. Selena Kim.
Photos by K. S. Kim © 1997. All rights reserved. Scan provided courtesy
of G. Stormer.
Getting Started in Origamic Architecture
There are two basic tools you must have: an X-acto (or craft)
knife and a ruler with a metal edge to cut against.
I recommend a self-healing cutting mat to cut on, but thick cardboard
or some old catalogs will work fine. You'll also want some "low-tack"
tape to adhere the pattern to your cardstock while you're transferring the
design. I prefer 3M's Post-it® 1"-wide Correction Tape,
but drafting tape or masking tape with some of the tack removed are other
good options.
You can use a pattern from a book or come up with your own design. And you
can utilize a variety of papers as long as they're stiff enough to be able
to hold the shape of the model once it's
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Above: Dining is constructed of 90 lb watercolor
paper
OA model designed by Masahiro Chatani, executed by K. Selena Kim.
Photo by K. S. Kim © 1997. All rights reserved. Scan provided courtesy
of G. Stormer.
As you become more advanced, you may want to invest in other tools. To your
basic OA "toolbox" you can add:
| • | an embossing stylus, to indent the central fold line | ||
| • | a 9RX-X-acto, an excellent tool to make the fold line half-cuts | ||
| • | a needle tool, to make a sharp crease on the reverse side of the fold line half-cuts | ||
| • | a bone folder | ||
| • | fine tipped tweezers | ||
| • | a circle cutter | ||
| • | 1/8" & 1/16" hole punchers | ||
| • | a lightbox, to help transfer the patterns to your cardstock |
My Experience with Origamic Architecture
I've been an ardent fan of Origamic Architecture ever since I serendipitously
came across one of Masahiro Chatani's books while browsing the papercraft
section at a Barnes & Nobles in NYC. Now, several years & 20 books
later, with several more I hope to purchase later this year, I guess you
could say I'm a definite devotee of this papercraft.
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At first, I found the OA models a bit intimidating; but after I'd done a dozen or so – trying different methods of transferring the patterns to the cardstock and different kinds of papers – I began to find my stride. Each new pattern I construct seems more amazing than the last. I've cut and folded hundreds of cards, but I still marvel at the magic of the paper geometry and the beauty of the designs. When a piece is finished, even though I constructed it myself, I still sometimes wonder, "how is that done?!"
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| OA models designed by M. Chatani, executed
by K. Selena Kim. Photos by K. S. Kim © 1997. All rights reserved. Scan provided courtesy of G. Stormer.
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Along the way, I've developed my own method of transferring the patterns
using a lightbox, which I believe is the easiest way. On dark papers, I use
a modified version of Chatani's pin-prick method, which I learned from my
friend Gerry Stormer (see Links section below
for a hyperlink to his OA website). I enjoy trying different
specialty papers and incorporating blind embossing, heat embossing, and rubber
stamping on the cards. You can see examples of the blind embossing I've done
in the photo above of Teddy Bear with Toy Blocks
and the close-up photo of Parthenon in the Swap
section below. And here are two examples of some specialty papers I've
used:
Left is the simple yet elegant Cutlery Set, enhanced
by the use of metallic silver cardstock. Right is a
charming miniature of Château d’Azay-le-Rideau for which
I chose a paper printed with a marble pattern.
OA models designed by Masahiro Chatani, executed by K. Selena
Kim.
Photos by K. S. Kim © 1997. All rights reserved. Scans provided courtesy
of G. Stormer.
I have made hundreds of models and have become a very big fan of this papercraft.
I hope to share my passion for OA with everyone and to help spread
the word about Origamic Architecture. Although it was first introduced in
the U.S. in 1985 (1981 in Japan), it's still not well-known, even among
papercrafters. To help increase the profile of this hobby, I have exhibited
origamic architecture from my collection at two local libraries: Somerset
County/Bridgewater Library & Manville Public Library in north central
New Jersey. The exhibitions were well-received and many people remarked
that they enjoyed seeing the origamic architecture for the first time.
I've also shown the cards at craft clubs and have taught a few classes
on how to craft origamic architecture. If you would like to arrange an OA
exhibit at an organization or company (in NJ or NYC) with which you are
affiliated, you may contact me at
KSelena@aol.com.
Origamic Architecture - Collection of K. Selena Kim
Sept 1997 Exhibit, Somerset County/Bridgewater Library
Over 110 pieces were exhibited in the library's 3 display cases.
Photos by K. S. Kim © 1997. All rights reserved. Scans provided courtesy of G. Stormer.
My other recent OA project was the designing
and production of my 1997 holiday greeting cards. Since I had to
cut over 50 cards by hand, I needed something easy yet graceful, keeping
the number of lines to a minimum. I came up with a very simple Christmas
tree crowned by a star at the top. The OA was executed on dark green
coverstock texturized with watermarked columns and a gold marker was used
to color in the star and also to put random flecks of gold all over the paper.
As a final touch, I heat embossed the words "Season's Greetings" on the card
in gold and decorated the envelopes with images of tree ornaments. I plan
to upload a scan of the card here so you can see it.
My future projects include crafting more of the patterns in the Chatani/Nakazawa
books – there are still over 200 patterns I'd like to do, plus more
in the books I haven't gotten yet – and working on more of my own OA
designs.
House 2, OA design by K. Selena Kim ©
1997. All rights reserved.
I enjoy hearing from people about OA, so please feel free to write to me. It would be great connecting with more OA'ers and to share tips, techniques, and experiences, as well as info on tools, papers, glues, etc. One day, I hope we can launch an OA club or newsletter.
I currently correspond online with several people interested in OA, one of
whom is Gerry Stormer (check out his website, the
link is below). Gerry has been doing OA for
8 or 9 years and has constructed hundreds of cards. I've found our
discussions to be very informative, invaluable, and a lot of fun. His cutting
and folding skills are indeed finely honed. In particular, I admire
his skill in executing half-depth cuts which result in precise and sharp
folds. I know he enjoys hearing from other OA'ers and I encourage you
to contact Gerry
as well. Here are some photos showing his skills as an OA crafter:
Top left, down: Daisy House, Hercules Incorporated
Headquarters, Milano Duomo
Top right, down: Osaragi Memorial Hall†,
Daisekiji Temple*, Lloyd's of
London
OA designed by Masahiro Chatani, Keiko Nakazawa*,
and Shunichi Ozawa†, executed by Gerry Stormer.
Photos & scan provided courtesy of G. Stormer © 1997. All
rights reserved.
More of Gerry's work can be viewed at his website:
http://www.prlink.com/stormer/
I plan to keep adding to this site as I learn more about building web pages
and as AOL becomes more advanced. Perhaps this site can become interactive
and support an OA message board. Until I can add such a feature, if
you'd like to share information or comments, please
e-mail me and I'll post them on this
site.
Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.
OA model designed by Masahiro Chatani, executed by K. Selena Kim.
Photos by K. S. Kim © 1997. All rights reserved. Scans provided courtesy
of G. Stormer.
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And if you know of any companies that produce and market OA cards commercially, I'd greatly appreciate your letting me know their name and how I may contact them. So far, I've only found AG Industries/Very Special Greetings which distributes Chatani & Nakazawa cards out of Seattle. I've been able to purchase a couple of these cards from Gallery 91 in Soho, NYC. I'm interested in obtaining cards &/or patterns. I'm particularly interested in purchasing an OA of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. I'd appreciate any help or leads.
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I'd also enjoy hearing about other authors and
titles of Origamic Architecture books. Right now, I have books by
Masahiro Chatani & Keiko Nakazawa, as well as some pop-up books by Paul
Jackson and Mark Hiner. If you'd like to exchange lists of titles from
personal OA libraries, or need help locating a certain book, just
let me know. I did
quite a bit of searching last year for some hard-to-locate
books, so I may be able to help you.
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| Japanese Dolls, OA model designed
by Keiko Nakazawa, executed by K. Selena Kim. Photos by K. S. Kim © 1997. All rights reserved. Scans provided courtesy of G. Stormer. |
Thanks for checking out this website.
I hope we'll be able to share some fun and informative
discussions on Origamic
Architecture.
Gund Hall, Harvard University
OA model designed by Masahiro Chatani, executed by K. Selena Kim
Photo by K. S. Kim © 1997. All rights reserved. Scan provided courtesy
of G. Stormer.
Happy OA'ing,
K. Selena Kim
KSelena@aol.com
Origamic Architecture Sites:
Other Papercraft Sites:
| • | Th'ng Design Dimensional Graphics | |
| • | Evermore Enterprises Pop-Up Cards | |
| • |  Eclectic Iconoclast (Papercutting in Action)
- Béatrice Coron |
|
Online Bookstores Where You Can Purchase OA Books:
For more information about purchasing books,
see the OA
Bibliography page.
• |
Sasuga Japanese Bookstore - the stores are in Boston, but they take orders via e-mail. Their customer service is excellent and they are especially good in tracking down hard-to-find books from Japan. |
|
• |
Amazon Online - descriptions of the contents of some of the books are available at Andrew Crawford's OA site: http://evermore.com/evermore/popup.html. If you decide to purchase from Amazon.com, please use the links from Andrew's site. The cost to you will be the same as through Amazon.com directly but Amazon.com will then pay a small referral fee to help support a Japanese arts organization called Arizona Aikido with which Andrew is affiliated. |
If you know of other Origamic Architecture sites or if you'd like to link
to this site, please let me know.
Links used by permission of site
owners*. (*no response from Brenig
or Blau; please let me know if you'd like the links
discontinued)
To date, I have located four articles regarding origamic architecture. They
are:
| • | "Origami Architecture," by Scott Morris. Omni Magazine. Dec 1988 Vol 11 No 3 (pp 156-157) – The monthly "Games" column writer for the magazine goes a little into the background of OA – it's creator, it's inception, and how it differs from traditional origami – as well as describing how OA is done. The second half of the article is a call for entries for an "Omnigami" (author's coined word) contest, Omni Competition #48, with Morris and OA creator Masahiro Chatani to be among the judges (n.b., the article states that the entries will "become the property of Omni. None will be returned." Sounds like a terrific way to start an original OA collection!). There is a reduced-size pattern of an elegant Chatani design called, "White Stage" at the end of the article. [My thanks to Andrew Crawford of Evermore Enterprises for bringing this article to my attention. KSK] |
| • | "Omnigami Winners," by Scott Morris. Omni Magazine. Sep 1989 Vol 11 No 12 (pp 112-113) – This article and accompanying photos showcase the winners from Omni's Competition #48, which called for original works of origamic architecture. Robert Lamarche of California submitted the winning design which was an abstract of ocean waves. Chatani judged the piece as "a very beautiful, exciting, and complicated work which dances with a rather professional technique." I too found it startlingly beautiful in it's ability to convey the powerful movement of ocean waves in a static medium. The other pieces shown are just as interesting and creative. I particularly enjoyed the "Bush-Ambush" ambigram created by Lefty Fontenrose of California. One side of the card shows a cutout at the top reading "Texas" with an OA of a cactus and skull below, turn it around, and the same cutout reads "Taxes" with an OA of a dollar sign and coin. I just wish Omni had published some patterns of the winning designs. |
| • | "Pop-Up Origamic Architecture, by Masahiro Chatani," by Lura Labarge. Creative Crafts and Miniatures. Dec 1985 v9 (p 20) – This is a brief book review of Chatani's Pop-Up Origamic Architecture. |
| • | "Pop-Up Geography," by Ingolf Vogeler. Journal of Geography. May/Jun 1992 Vol 91 No 3 (pp 131-133) – The author is a member of the Dept. of Geography at the Univ. of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and reviews four of Chatani's books: Origamic Architecture: American Houses, Origamic Architecture goes Modern Building Masterpieces, Origamic Architecture Around the World, and Pattern Sheets of Origamic Architecture. The reviews seem to be geared toward how teachers of geography can utilize these books in classrooms. |
I found these articles at my local library and I highly recommend that you seek out the OMNI Magazine articles at your library or among your back issues if you have them. The photographs of the winning cards should definitely be seen in color. If you have absolutely no luck in locating these articles and would still like to see them, contact me and I 'll see what I can do to help you get a copy of these articles.
As always, I'd greatly appreciate your sharing information about any other OA articles you may have come across. Please send information to KSelena@aol.com. Thank you.
Interested in
Swapping OA Pieces?
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As I've mentioned above in my "Experience" section, I enjoy trying different types of papers and embellishments on the cards. One of my favorite innovations is using my own handmade stencils to blind emboss the columns of the Parthenon model and backing the cutout area with paper that has a cloud pattern printed on it. When I hold the card, I feel as if I'm holding the actual building in my hand – mysteriously and mystically miniaturized. |
| Parthenon, Athens, Greece OA model designed by Masahiro Chatani and executed by K. Selena Kim. Photos by K. S. Kim © 1997. All rights reserved. Scans provided courtesy of G. Stormer.
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Left: This is the cover I designed for
Parthenon. After I came up with a greek motif pattern that I liked,
I cut the stencil and blind embossed it.
I would very much enjoy hearing about what you do with your OA cards. I know of several people who enjoy combining their calligraphy talents with OA crafting, and some who, like me, combine rubber stamping with OA. I think it would also be interesting to combine traditional origami or other papercrafts, such as quilling, with OA. |
If you'd like to exchange models of published OA designs with your own twists
or effects – some examples being: an extra small size, blind
embossing or rubber stamping embellishments, interesting papers – I'd
be happy to talk to you and to arrange a swap, either with myself or another
of the OA'ers with whom I correspond.
And if you've created your own OA designs, I'd be extremely interested in swapping for a pattern. So far, I've completed a Christmas tree and a pumpkin design as well as two simple houses. And I'm working on the final drafts of 180° cards of a birdhouse with a roof that swings into place and an octagonal gazebo with trellised sides.
It would be wonderful to hear from you about the creative OA variations you're pursuing. Please do write me and tell me about your projects. Or better yet, if you have them photographed and/or scanned and would like to share them, please send me the photos or graphics files and I'll post them to this site for everyone to admire.
Chrysanthemum, OA model designed by Keiko Nakazawa,
executed by K. Selena Kim.
Photos by K. S. Kim © 1997. All rights reserved. Scans provided courtesy
of G. Stormer.
Acknowledgements
To Prof. Masahiro Chatani and Ms. Keiko Nakazawa – the deepest, most heart-felt gratitude for so generously sharing your tremendous talents with all of us. I look at your work in awe, with respect and admiration. Thank you for your books, for the ideas and the patterns that bring such delight to so many.
To my family – thank you for your love and support, and for enduring my obsession with this papercraft.
To Gerry Stormer – thanks for taking the time to do all the scans for me, they make this site a thousand times better. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all your help and encouragement.
[OA Bibliography & Purchasing Books]
Last Updated: 1 Jun 1998
Copyright ©1997 K. Selena Kim. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without permission.
constructed. I recommend using at least 80 lb coverstock
– I use Classic Crest Cover Smooth (Natural White & Solar White)
which I purchase in 8.5"x11" sheets by the pound. Watercolor papers in the
90-140 lb range work well and have a nice textured finish. On some models,
I prefer to use a very stiff 100 lb Strathmore bristol board which I buy
in 20 sheet pads of 9"x12". This paper is thick and somewhat difficult
to work with, so I recommend getting some practice on lighter weight papers
first.
