This was a student project by Tony Killian, Kaiyan Mistree, Danni Chen and Michael Lee for Isabella Gould's ARCH 243 course, Spring 2008.
P3F3 (Pretty Paper Pre-Fabricated Folded Flowers) was conceived from folding a basic rectangular piece of paper into a twisted triangular prism form. This form generated a sphere when multiplied and attached to each other. The form was refined with the geometries of Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome, creating groups of the twisted prism that form pentagonal and hexagonal clusters that fit together perfectly. This characteristic required that all the pieces be precisely cut using the laser cutter as a pre-fabricated form.
One of the interesting qualities of this form is how it interacts with light. The centers of the clusters are solid and create an opaque surface restricting the flow of light, while the center of the prism is open to allow light to flow freely. The ability of light to play on the form from within and from without enhances the dynamics of the design.
The prismatic form lent itself to the variety of density of the form while maintaining the same size of spherical form. This prism also creates its own structure by reinforcing itself to maintain the spherical shape. Eyelets with precut holes are used to hold the pieces together to make sure they were exactly in the right location. These eyelets also served a dual purpose by allowing a convenient location from which to hang the installation. -- Tony Killian
This work is a part of the online collections of the Knowlton School of Architecture Student Archives, The Ohio State University. It is part of an effort to make accessible student work ranging from the first student that graduated from the program in 1903 to the present.
