Origami Showcase #1: Chinese unit origami

An introduction to Origami Showcase</i>
To the casual observer, the concept of origami may seem deceptively simple- taking a single sheet of paper and folding it into an animal, object, or something completely random.
That is the essence of origami- and yet if you look further, you’ll find that it’s so much more.
There are people out there who have invented impossibly complex models folded from a single square of paper; blending maths and art to bring amazing creations to life. There’s modular origami, where tens, hundreds or even thousands of paper units are folded and assembled together. Careful, precise folding combined with an eye for colour and design can result in absolutely stunning models.
Take a look around dA, or Flickr, and you might be surprised what you see.
Paper cranes are cool, but there’s some really awesome stuff out there.
I hope that I can bring some of this to you through Origami Showcase.

Origami Showcase #1: Chinese Unit Origami
Before a few months ago, I’d never seen a piece of Chinese unit origami in my life.
There aren’t that many people on dA who make this type of origami- which is precisely why I’m bringing this article to you today.

Basically, Chinese unit origami is where you fold a TON of paper triangles and then assemble them together into whatever shape takes your fancy (or whatever the instructions you’re following say). Each triangle is designed so that it has two pockets and two tips, so by tucking the tips into pockets you can assemble an entire model without using any glue. This is a nice article with more info on Chinese unit origami and its history. It also has instructions for folding the basic triangle unit, and links to a few diagrams as well.

Now I’ll finally stop rambling and get on to the visual side of things- some Chinese unit origami from your fellow deviants. If anything catches your eye, please take a closer look and support these amazing artists!

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has a ton of original Chinese unit creations in her gallery; this is only a small snapshot of some of my favourites.



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’s Chinese unit Winnie the Pooh characters are simply adorable!



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Here are more Winnie the Pooh characters from to complete the set, and Marill from Pokemon, too. If you look further in her gallery, you’ll find some miniature Chinese unit models and a ton of cute critters, too.



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Here is a selection of some more Chinese unit models folded by a variety of different artists.

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Birds are a recurring theme in Chinese unit origami; here are a number of models showcasing different variations of this theme.

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Last but not least, here is a colourful tutorial on how to fold the basic Chinese unit triangle by .



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I hope you enjoyed this feature, perhaps learnt a little more about origami in the process, and found some new works to add to your favourites. And, of course, I hope to see a lot more of you out there folding, too!

If you have any ideas for the theme/features of my next Origami Showcase article, or about how I could make this series better, please let me know by dropping me a note- all suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article, and happy folding!

- Kei