Erik Demaine and Martin Demaine

The sculpture is a modular combination of nine interacting pieces. Each piece is folded by hand from a circle of paper, using a compass to score the creases and cut out a central hole. This transformation of flat paper into swirling surfaces creates sculpture that feels alive. Paper folds itself into a natural equilibrium form depending on its creases. These equilibria are poorly understood, especially for curved creases. We are exploring what shapes are possible in this genre of self-folding origami, with applications to deployable structures, manufacturing, and self-assembly.