Origami With Adi

  Skeleton Kusudama (Designed by Aditya Kumbhare) History This next one is an asymmetrical, wireframe-type piece that takes the form of an icosahedron. The end connection method creates pentagons instead of points, giving an overall shape like that of a (1,1) Goldberg polyhedron instead.  Since the pieces are asymmetrical, the final product used 60 square three-inch sticky notes. Disclaimer: the size of the paper that can be used isn't limited to the sizes I used! As long as the paper is square, it will work. Just make sure to choose a paper size that you are comfortable folding with!   

Zincite Kusudama (Designed by Aditya Kumbhare) History This next design is another one I am very proud of. The base I used for this design is completely original, not based off of one of my previous designs. Each piece has two extra spikes which give the final product a sea-urchin look. I named it the Zincite kusudama after the Zincite (Zinc oxide) crystal, an incredibly rare red and orange gemstone. The final product used 30 pieces of Tuttle paper, each with a different color on the back. Disclaimer: the size of the paper that can be used isn't limited to the sizes I used! As long as the paper is square, it will work. Just make sure to choose a paper size that you are comfortable folding with!   

Nova Kusudama (Designed by Aditya Kumbhare) History This next design of mine has a funny story behind it. I designed this piece in school during lunchtime and made and connected all the pieces when I got home. Because of how hard I made my creases, the pieces wouldn't stay open at the angle that I wanted them to, so I put a bobby pin on each tip and kept the Kusudama aside. I then proceeded to forget about it for 2 months. When I removed the bobby pins from the Kusudama, it was so sturdy it could afford to be thrown around. The final product used 30 pieces of patterned tuttle paper.  Disclaimer: the size of the paper that can be used isn't limited to the sizes I used! As long as the paper is square, it will work. Just make sure to choose a paper size that you are comfortable folding with!

Trinary Cube (Designed by Aditya Kumbhare) History This next design isn't technically a Kusudama, but it does count as modular origami. Each piece is very simple and constitutes one-fourth of a face of the cube. The final product is incredibly sturdy and can handle being chucked off a 30-story building with minimal damage (though I highly suggest not doing that). The structure is also completely hollow, so it makes for an excellent gift box or puzzle box! The final product used 24 square sticky notes of varying colors.  Disclaimer: the size of the paper that can be used isn't limited to the sizes I used! As long as the paper is square, it will work. Just make sure to choose a paper size that you are comfortable folding with!  

Starfruit Kusudama (Designed by Aditya Kumbhare) History This next design is one I am very proud of. This was my first time attempting to design an asymmetrical unit. Asymmetrical unit Kusudamas require 60 units instead of 30 and are usually assembled in the shape of an icosidodecahedron (somewhere between an icosahedron and a dodecahedron). The two different connection types both use a flap and a pocket, but of different sizes. One uses a 30-degree angle flap while the other uses a smaller 45-degree flap. The final product used 60 square sticky notes of varying colors.  Disclaimer: the size of the paper that can be used isn't limited to the sizes I used! As long as the paper is square, it will work. Just make sure to choose a paper size that you are comfortable folding with!  

  Façade Kusudama (Designed by Aditya Kumbhare)   Histoire Oh boy. This is one of my failed designs.  My original plan was to create a design with a very minimalistic look. This is what I came up with. The only problem is that the connection is very weak, and the only way to reinforce it would be via the inside. Even after doing so, however, the model is VERY flimsy and repeatedly breaks, even at the slightest touch. That's why I decided to call it the  Façade Kusudama. On the outside, it looks sturdy, easy, and fun, but folding it is pure torture. Maybe if I can revisit this shape and find a better connection method I can try again. The final product used 30 square sticky notes.  Disclaimer: the size of the paper that can be used isn't limited to the sizes I used! As long as the paper is square, it will work. Just make sure to choose a paper size that you are comfortable folding with!

Prominence Kusudama (Designed by Aditya Kumbhare) History This Kusudama is a variation of my Solar Flare Kusudama. In this piece, I changed the connection method slightly to turn the spikes inside out. When folded with double-colored tuttle paper, this reveals stars on the vertices. The connection method becomes a little more tricky, but the final product is definitely worth the effort.  This Kusudama used 30 sheets of square Tuttle paper, with a different color on the back.  Disclaimer: the size of the paper that can be used isn't limited to the sizes I used! As long as the paper is square, it will work. Just make sure to choose a paper size that you are comfortable folding with!   

  Polkadot Kusudama (Designed by Aditya Kumbhare)   History This was my second attempt at finding  the largest Kusudama that can be folded from 30 three-inch square sheets of paper. The resulting Kusudama ended up being slightly smaller than my Jumbo Kusudama, but when I folded the units using tuttle paper, the result had little polka-dots on every vertice. The connection method for this Kusudama is very strange. It uses a flap and pocket system that requires folding the paper backward and under a corner of the other piece. This makes the final product very sturdy despite its large size. The final product used 30 sheets of square Tuttle paper, with a different color on the back.  Disclaimer: the size of the paper that can be used isn't limited to the sizes I used! As long as the paper is square, it will work. Just make sure to choose a paper size that you are comfortable folding with!

Solar Flare Kusudama (Designed by Aditya Kumbhare)   History This is one of my better designs. I folded it from thirty 3-inch sticky notes. The module uses a modified windmill base, similar to my windmill base Kusudama, except this one doesn't need an external piece to connect with itself. With the remaining useless flaps of paper, I added spikes and 'floating' squares to make the final structure more spherical-looking. I am very happy with the result. Disclaimer: the size of the paper that can be used isn't limited to the sizes I used! As long as the paper is square, it will work. Just make sure to choose a paper size that you are comfortable folding with!

Firecracker Kusudama (Designed by Aditya Kumbhare) History I made this design from tuttle paper while experimenting with 3:4 ratio paper. This module has a very small but very sturdy connection method. making and connecting the pieces is a little tedious but the final product is very robust and durable despite its relatively large size.  This Kusudama used 30 sheets of square Tuttle paper, with a different color on the back.  Disclaimer: the size of the paper that can be used isn't limited to the sizes I used! As long as the paper is a 3:4 ratio paper, it will work. Just make sure to choose a paper size that you are comfortable folding with!

  Florita Kusudama (Designed by Aditya Kumbhare) History This is another design that I got by randomly folding paper. Originally the design was not supposed to look so elaborate, but since the internal angle was too large to make an icosahedron, I had to reduce it with some extra folds. I didn't mind though, since it ended up looking cooler anyway. I called it Florita because the final product has little flowers on every vertice. The final product used 30 sheets of square Tuttle paper, with a different color on the back. Overall it's very sturdy and can withstand being tossed around. Disclaimer: the size of the paper that can be used isn't limited to the sizes I used! As long as the paper is square, it will work. Just make sure to choose a paper size that you are comfortable folding with!

Spiderman Kusudama (Designed by Aditya Kumbhare)   History Here is another design I made with tuttle paper. For this Kusudama, I didn't use any pre-existing module as a basis.  I created this module by accident during a car ride. I was folding a sticky note out of boredom and I came across a shape that could possibly work as a module. Folding that shape with tuttle paper created a checkerboard-patterned piece, but when I tried to put three pieces together, I realized that the connection was too weak. An extra fold took care of that and also made the overall structure more spherical. I asked my parents for name suggestions and they stated the colors and pattern reminded them of Spiderman, so that's what I ended up naming it. The final product used 30 sheets of square Tuttle paper, with a different color on the back.  Disclaimer: the size of the paper that can be used isn't limited to the sizes I used! As long as the paper is square, it will work. Just make sure to choose a...

Expand Kusudama (dimpled variation) folded by Aditya Kumbhare (Adi)  History I started making this kusudama in the car during a road trip based off of a design I saw online. The pieces take a small amount of time to make, and the final product turned out to be very big. So, I had the idea of pushing the tips in to make it smaller, essentially dimpling the Kusudama. I also folded the flaps down behind to strengthen the connection. Once I had put it together, I took a picture on the side of the road and took it apart for storage during the rest of the trip.  Disclaimer: the size of the paper that can be used isn't limited to the sizes I used! As long as the paper is square, it will work. Just make sure to choose a paper size that you are comfortable folding with! Thank you for visiting my blog! Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. 

Jumbo Kusudama (Designed by Aditya Kumbhare) History I recently put myself to the challenge of finding the largest kusudama that can be folded from 30 three-inch square sheets of paper. In this design, the edge of the icosahedral shape is 3 inches long, the width of the paper. This leaves only the corners free to connect two pieces. The connection method I used is very simple and asymmetrical, but it is effective. The final product used 30 square 3-inch sticky notes. It is pretty sturdy, but too large and soft to be thrown around. It's still fun to make, though! :) Disclaimer: the size of the paper that can be used isn't limited to the sizes I used! As long as the paper is square, it will work. Just make sure to choose a paper size that you are comfortable folding with!

Mountaintop Kusudama Designed and folded by Aditya Kumbhare (Adi)  History Say hello to my first original road trip creation! I made this one in the car and took a picture in Bryce Canyon National Park. My original goal was to discover the simplest undiscovered kusudama module possible, but instead, I stumbled upon this idea. But I'm not complaining! This piece just happened to work out. There aren't many kusudamas out there that use mostly 45-degree angles and have an interlocking connection, amirite? There is one flaw with this design though. Since it uses mostly 45-degree angles, the tab that is used to lock 2 pieces together is relatively small, so the pieces fly apart when the kusudama is under pressure. I first made the piece using a plain sticky note, since those are what I use to brainstorm new possible modules. Upon testing the piece out with Tuttle paper, I found that the paper makes these convenient little stars at the points where 5 pieces touch, and caps on each pe...

Bad Hair Day Kusudama Designed and folded by Aditya Kumbhare (Adi) 

Windmill Base Kusudama Designed and folded by Aditya Kumbhare (Adi)

Hi there! My name is Adi, and I'm an 18-year-old semiprofessional origami creator and designer, who likes folding modular origami models. As opposed to traditional origami, modular origami requires multiple separate pieces to be joined without glue or tape. One of the most common types of modular origami is the 'Kusudama'.  Kusudama is a Japanese word that means 'medicine ball', possibly referring to balls of potpourri hung to ward off sickness in ancient Japan.  Origami Kusudamas come in various shapes and sizes,  and take on a generally spherical, symmetric shape   when assembled .   For most Kusudamas it is relatively easy to make the pieces, however, putting them together is where the complexity lies. Kusudama models can use as few as 12 units or as many as thousands! I also create my own Kusudama designs and  am writing a book with instructions for them! A s I create  these original works , I will post them here for everyone to see my progress ove...