Experiments with Paper by Richard Sweeney

Icosahedron II
2006
Paper and adhesive

Any form imaginable can be rendered through drawing, but when modeling in paper, an object has to be physically shaped. When faced with a flat sheet of material, there is no obvious indication of how it can be manipulated into a three dimensional object. The limitations of paper as a form making material offer a challenge, which through playful investigation results in tangible models. Physical models provide a better indication of proportion and construction than drawings alone, bringing material to the forefront of the design process.

Hands on manipulation provides perhaps the best insight into the properties of a material, allowing its behaviors to be discovered and exploited. The possibility exists that design can be generated entirely through the exploration of a particular material. Finding new ways to control the form of materials and the most appropriate applications for their use is something worth striving for.

-Richard Sweeney



(text & images via: Richard Sweeney)