Customer Reviews

The Paper Architect: Fold-It-Yourself Buildings and Structures

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This gorgeous book starts with several pages of basic and general
assembly instructions. However, each model includes detailed
construction directions, along with detailed notes and statistics about
the real structures. There are, of course, photos of the buildings and,
excellent-quality full-page photos of the completed OA models.

Good origamic architects clearly had a hand in the book design. Being hard-covered spiral-bound, it lays nice and flat. Pattern pages collected in the back of the book are perforated for easy removal.

All three authors have announcements on their sites with additional
details, including lists of all the patterns in the book.

Congratulations to all three artists on this fantastic new book!

Crafters who would create miniature replicas of the world's great architecture, from the London Eye to the Parthenon and the Golden Gate Bridge, will relish this collection of fold-it-yourself buildings and structures offering 20 templates for construction. Step-by-step, clear directions accompany easy and fun diagrams, photos and templates perfect for paper crafters and libraries catering to them.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable book, and a great introduction to popup architecture. The three contributors provide great models (especially Ingrid Siliakus), and these are augmented nicely with background on the source architecture itself. The models are a wonderful distraction to build, too. I've done eight already (see youtube/user/jthor54, all from this book). Highly recommended as a gift for any architecture buff.

This book is just amazing. The models/buildings are superb and make the effort totally worthwhile, even though quite a bit of patience is required sometimes!
Some of my friends were amazed at the results I had produced and had no idea I had even made them, so good were the results!
I totally recommend this book to anyone who has a bit of 'quiet' time to spare and a yen for creative hobbies. You will be surprised at how good these models look.
All I ask - nay BEG - is MORE OF THE SAME. PLEEEEEASE!!!! Where is VOLUME 2, and 3, and 4 and.......

As far as I know this is the only book in the U.S.A. that focuses solely on kirigami/origami architecture. For each model there is a large picture of the finished result, a fact sheet, (which I found really cool since you can learn about the building you're working on), and a pattern which clearly shows where to cut, where to mountain fold and where to valley fold. These patterns can also be easily be removed for use. All the projects are impressive looking and conveniently organized by difficulty. I'm also happy with the variety of architectural styles. There is everything from bridges to tall vertical structures, edgy to round, ancient to modern. I think there is enough variety that after creating all the models in this book you could possibly figure out how to create other buildings on your own.
If you want to make the models larger than the pattern in the book you can measure each cut and multiply them each by the same percent, (depending on how large or small you want to go), or you could scan the image and blow it up. There is a lot of entertainment to be had as this is a rather time consuming project. Keep in mind you will need an exacto knife or razor blade, stiff paper such as card stock or poster board, and possibly a metal ruler. I would definitely recommend this book which combines history, cultural geography, mathematics, and art into fun.

My fourth grader had a project on The LaSagrada Familia to include purpose, construction, history, and a 3-D visual. Well, I ordered this book (used). Amazon shipped as promised. It arrived much sooner than promised I thought which was great and it was in excellant condition. The book itself included history, a picture, and a template with instruction to build a model. NOT EAST at all to follow. The cutting and folding are a nightmare. If you are going to try it, make plenty copies to practice with before cutting up your only template.

I ordered this book because I have been getting into all things Paper! Well, when I stumbled out of bed this afternoon I was presented with the news that it had arrived! Soon I was fumbling with the package and opening the book itself. The projects, templates and facts are all so amazing! I was anxious to get started so I set up, read the basics and went to the first template. UH OH! What on earth is a half-cut!? Valley fold? Mountain fold? I couldn't find any helpful explanations. So as everyone does when in need of knowledge I googled these terms. No helpful hits! Yahoo? Nope... Ask? Nothing. I was frustrated, I felt both stupid and irritated because my artistic juices were wanting to flow. Then I went through the book and found a page with the information of the three authors and decided to call the phone number for one of them. Two rings of the phone and I got a real, living and very friendly person! Even better was she spoke English. She was very kind and explained in detail what each term was and how to do them.

There is no doubt that this book is worth every cent I paid if not more. In fact I'm going to look fir more books by the author who's info I used to contact someone for help. If you know you like papercraft stuff like this then I urge you to buy this book!

The designs are actually much easier then they look. If you are newer to this then you will feel intimidated and you may decide to give up. My advice is don't quit! There is no need to be intimidated. The templates this book include are completely covered in guide lines. I do recommend that you have ALL the supplies they suggest! If you don't have a ruler your lines will end up crooked and that will effect the project to some degree. The book is spiral bound so it's not a pain to keep the book open. This will come in handy in the way that you'll be able to keep an eye on the instructions while you are working. I decided to do my first project on scrapbooking paper which seems like it will work pretty well, but the book does suggest you use some form of cardstock. Some of the tools it suggest are a craft knife, cardstock, metal edged ruler, bamboo skewer and a blunt knife.

As fun as this is for adults, I think if you have a smart and very artistic teen, this would make the perfect gift for them. This is a book I'd buy for my friends and family who like this sort of thing, yes it would be the first item I would consider for them.

Have fun crafting!

this book is for any budding paper sculpter who always wanted to learn but didnt know where to start. the paper sculpts can be fiddly and hard to do at times but their step by step instructions are very well laid out and the finshed products are simply amazing! its very easy to add personal touches to make them your own by adding small stencils of moons and stars in the sky or a small camel next to the pryamids! a must for lovers of pop up

this is a great project for parents and kids. but be forewarned you need to buy about a dozen inexpensive tools to work with (from any arts and crafts store).

It contains famous architecture and its discription.
The paper architects are very clear and not complex level except a few.
I expected more complex and realistic buildings and structures.
It's realistic level is acceptable, but I want more than this book.