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Unit Origami

Unit Origami
This is a really sweet type of origami that doesn't require the intricate folding that nobody can understand.

What you'll need:
12 sheets of origami paper

 
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Step 1Building

Building
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Now the first step making this type of origami is to make the first unit!

1. Start with a single piece of origami paper with the color side facing down and fold it in half.

2. Next, unfold that. Then bring up the paper edge to the crease just you made in step 1 and fold that down.

3. Rotate the paper 180 degrees and repeat step 2 with the paper edge.

4. Rotate that by 90 degrees so you're looking at something like a cupboard. Open the left side door of "the cabinet" and fold up the bottom right corner up to the crease of the opened left side.

5. Undo the right triangle you made in step 4 and close up the left side of the cabinet.

6. Then rotate this by 180 degrees and open up the new left side. Then repeat step four by folding up the right hand bottom corner up to the crease of the left door to the cabinet.

7. Now instead of undoing this fold as you did before, you want to simply close up the left door of the cabinet with the right triangle still folded up inside of it.

8. Now this is probable one of the hardest steps in making this type of origami so bear with me :)   Start out by lifting up the top right hand corner's "door" as far as it will go without undoing the folds. Then take the whole top left hand corner and tuck it underneath the right top flap. You want to keep pushing it in until it forms a triangle, the same as the one perpendicular to it.

9. Now take the whole shape flip it upside down and proceed to fold the white corners down over the shape for form a parallelogram without any white showing on either side.

10. Fold up the 2 points of the shape to form a square.

11. Lastly you just want to fold the square diagonally in half, along the gap between the two points you folded down in step 10. You may fold them in either direction.

That wasn't to hard now was it? Now all you got to do is go make 11 more of these :D


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69 comments
1-40 of 69next »
Aug 19, 2011. 5:17 PMspark16 says:
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
IT'S SO AWESOME!
Aug 19, 2011. 4:36 PMspark16 says:
omg it is so simple!
oh yeah, the video was a WHOLE LOT BETTER than the written instructions.
but
I like your work.
and omg mine turned out SO AWEMAZING!(THAT'S A CROSS BETWEEN AWESOME AND AMAZING)
Jun 12, 2011. 11:39 AMjbend says:
this is soooooo easy
May 4, 2009. 8:55 AMlogghi says:
i cant get the pyramids together... help!
May 22, 2011. 8:27 AMkaylaangelkisses says:
Me nether!
Feb 14, 2010. 4:49 PMBuzzsushi says:
It takes A LOT of wiggling and bending lol.
Feb 15, 2010. 6:53 AMlogghi says:
I managed it about a week after posting that comment, but it looks great thanks!
Mar 25, 2011. 4:56 AMmary96 says:
can someone plz tell me how to make the 90 unit one//
Jan 9, 2011. 11:07 AMbubblebut says:
I did it and it looked awesome it is so cool thanks for making it mine looks like this.
Jan 18, 2011. 7:30 PMlive it,laugh it,love it says:
dude i have no clue how to do this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Feb 14, 2011. 12:54 PMPetBennett says:
It may take sum practice with other origami folding before or in my case, an epiphany cuz I'm weird like that. Trying the lazy tertrahedragsomething at http://www.origami-resource-center.com/modular.html is a good place to start :3
Feb 18, 2011. 6:00 AMbubblebut says:
dude if you want to start off with easy origami then ckeck out my page or go to http://www.origami-fun.com/index.html
Jan 22, 2011. 3:55 PMbubblebut says:
o come on its easy
Feb 6, 2011. 8:55 PMchristophungus says:
Awesome!!!!!! I made a Giant one out of big construction paper!!!!!!!!!!
Feb 6, 2011. 8:30 PMchristophungus says:
Nice instructable!!
Jan 18, 2011. 7:30 PMlive it,laugh it,love it says:
cccccccccccccooooooooooooollllllllllllllll
Jun 4, 2010. 6:56 PMmutant763 says:
Really nice, could you do a video showing how to put one of the larger versions together with 30 modules
Jun 3, 2010. 6:40 AMpholt says:
How do you put the units together?
Jun 2, 2010. 4:37 PMeaglehylian says:
it´s easy... but so awsome.. thank´s
May 27, 2010. 8:11 AMPhantomn says:
Just made one and haven't stopped fiddling with it xD
Nice 'ible.
Mar 17, 2010. 11:45 AMimcharly says:
try adding a fortune cookie in it, really cool :DD

 

Mar 6, 2010. 1:23 PMThe Gray Ninja says:
i followed your guide and i have to say it was very cool when i experimented! I had somehow managed to make a cube out of six units that holds up pretty well! thanks a lot!
Feb 15, 2010. 4:35 PMBuzzsushi says:
Already made 3 different things and working on a 90 unit thing. its gonna rock, will post pics when Im finished. Great ible!
Feb 16, 2010. 10:22 AMBuzzsushi says:
Yeah. It is. Lol. Halfway done making the units nao. its gonna be big.
Jan 30, 2010. 10:13 AMrock_JOCKY says:
ur right, it does confuse ur friends. when my bud showed me his, i couldnt figure out how he did it. now i do so thx
Dec 12, 2009. 4:14 PMorigamianything says:
... has ANYONE thought about the *cough* other *cough* 12 unit and the (lol) 60 unit sonobes? and everything inbetween? and also the 270 unit....
Aug 10, 2009. 2:56 PMwadnilmom says:
I made a 120 (? maybe it was just 90) piece '-hedron' back in the mid 90's. A few years later we moved overseas, and I lost track of it. Now we're back in the ISA and I would sure like to make another one to show my math students! Anyone out there who can help??
Dec 12, 2009. 4:11 PMorigamianything says:
WHAT? A 120 UNIT??? i just made one of those, but slightly modified. make rings of 10 units, like ur making a stellated icosahedron. but you push the center down, that makes a star. make 12 of those, and connect those together like a dodecahedron.
Oct 10, 2009. 2:11 AMkog103 says:
Thanks for that man! Good instructions, and a brilliant result! Thanks!
Sep 15, 2009. 9:44 AMjibas_music77 says:
I did it! Thanks for the video XD
Jan 17, 2009. 8:47 PMnam.keeheon says:
What is the real name to this origami? (like polyhedra)
Sep 8, 2009. 4:02 PMpaperairplanecreator says:
i think its called a hexaflex
Jan 19, 2009. 4:23 PMnam.keeheon says:
thanks though, it turned out really cool, It be cooler if I knew a name...
Jan 20, 2009. 4:08 PMnam.keeheon says:
sweet, thanks dude
Sep 8, 2009. 10:31 AMpaperairplanecreator says:
hehheheeeh a brazilian tought me this
1-40 of 69next »

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