Origami Furniture

There is a variety of origami furniture ranging from chairs, tables, cups, plates and even beer cans (admittedly, that isn't quite "furniture"). Some are made from cardboard while others are made with metal and folded origami-style. Check it out:

Cardboard chairs are surprisingly sturdy. They are light weight, shipped flat, and then assembled on-site. Instructions for kids' cardboard furniture are free to download thanks to NE Stäubli.

• photo from foldschool.com

Fumi Ikeshima from Iowa State University made an origami chair by gluing together 35,000 triangular units. These triangular units are the same units used in Golden venture folding.

• read about golden Venture folding here
• photo by B Elbert [Iowa State University].

Another interesting origami furniture is the pleated chairs designed by Chishen Chiu. These chairs expand and compress like an accordian. They are reminiscent of a paper folding style called troublewit.

• read about troublewit here.
• photo from flexiblelove.com
• See video here, here, and here

Fuchs+Funke Industrial Design has made a chair that folds up quickly and easily like a cardboard box. A clean design that is light weight (only 2 kg), easy to assemble with no tools, looks good, and is fully functional. Why can't all furniture be this easy?

• see Papton chair from Fuchs+Funke.
  
  
  

This table is made by folding a piece of aluminum in an origami-like fashion. It was designed by Isamu Noguchi and is formally called Noguchi's "Prismatic Table". It has a hexagonal top supported by 3 legs. Imagine placing your origami models on top of this origami table, wouldn't that be a conversational piece! Not to mention, it costs about £262.

• photo from the Lollipop Shoppe

Here's another piece of origami furniture: it's called "Origami Side Table". It is made of laser-scored steel. There are two pieces that fit and lock together to make a neat little side table. The two pieces are cut from a single sheet with no waste. It was designed by Jaime Salm and Young Jin Chung and sells for about $185 USD.

• photo from the MIO Culture

Other Useful Origami

Textured Beer Cans: In 2001, Kirin Brewery Co. produced a fruit-flavored alcoholic drink called Hyoketsu. Initially, the surface of the can is smooth, but when opened, the can acquires a indented pattern of repeated diamonds. It's not exactly rocket science, but is an example of aesthetically useful origami. See the smooth can and the textured can here.

Patented Origami, Bowls and Containers: In 2001, Tomoko Fuse and her associates patented a method of folding a single sheet of paper into various bowls and containers. The design is versatile and can produce a variety of sized and shaped containers. The method requires no glue so it may be a more cost effective to manufacture, and because it is made of paper, is more environment friendly.

• See photo of various cups and bowls (K Burczyk's site).
• Read patent description
• See crease pattern for container (figure 3) by SIAM News:34:8
• See commercially available origami dinnerware by Orikaso.com