Book Giveaway: The Paper Architect by Marivi Garrido and Ingrid Siliakus

Craft & Design
Book Giveaway: The Paper Architect by Marivi Garrido and Ingrid Siliakus
The Paper Architect.jpg

Although it’s been years since I’ve done much papercraft to speak of, it’s always been a craftform that’s fascinated me. When I was a kid, I used to get those Dover Publication papercraft books, of castles and other historical buildings, and I’d spend countless hours cutting, folding, and gluing. I made an entire Medieval castle and village as a D&D miniature setting. I still have a couple of the buildings, now shabby with age, but they give me little memory tickles, of the countless hours each one represents. They are now part of our family “Island of Misfit Toys,” a mantle display of broken, but not forgotten, bits of Christmases past we venerate each year.

Crown Publishing has just published The Paper Architect, an awesome-looking book of fold-it-yourself buildings and structures. It contains 20 structures, including the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, and the White House. The fine folks at Crown have been kind enough to give us five copies to GIVE AWAY to YOU! To be eligible, just leave a comment in this post. Tell us about some of your favorite papercraft projects or otherwise why you think you NEED this book! Be sure you include your email address in the comment form field (it won’t be published). All eligible comments will be closed by 3pm PT Thursday, Feb 26. Winners will be announced on Friday here on the MAKE blog. Good luck!

170 thoughts on “Book Giveaway: The Paper Architect by Marivi Garrido and Ingrid Siliakus

  1. Chris Palmer says:

    I’m sitting here looking at a papercraft Dewey from Silent Running walking up the side of my desk, a folded and glued dodecagon calendar, a craft paper bridge from my long-ago college Statics course, a complete set of business card origami polygons, and several other bits of papercraft and origami.

    I think some nice buildings would be a good addition to the decor.

  2. Kelly says:

    My, um, kid would love it.

  3. Kevin Franklin says:

    I would love this book! I’ve made several Gemini space capsule models via Delta 7 Studios. http://www.delta7studios.com/ I simply love papercraft because as a college student there’s not much money left after the textbooks, and you get to tell people, YES that is paper!

  4. Rachel says:

    My favorite paper craft is a model of the Frank Lloyd Wright Robie House. This book would give my husband and I hours of quality paper-folding time together!

  5. mike says:

    When the economy really deteriorates, and I’ve lost all hope, at least I will have the know-how to collect some cardboard and fold-it-myself a structure, the White House would be roomy, here’s hoping these recipes scale.

  6. Paul says:

    I think my wife (and kids) would have lots of fun transforming cardboard into more elaborate structures!

    Here’s a rocket-ship she made the kids:
    http://filthwizardry.blogspot.com/2009/01/giant-cardboard-rocket-ship.html

  7. Travis says:

    I’ve been making models of geodesic domes for a friend that builds them. I need to expand my horizons and build something old-school… :-)

  8. fieros_suck says:

    because my roommate is an architect and it would totally make her jealous!!!

  9. Hunter says:

    Ever since I saw a model of ‘Dog’ from Half Life 2 done in papercraft, I have wanted to get in to it. This would be a great place to start. Plus I can gloat over my civil engineer friends (I’m a computer engineer) with my city of paper!

  10. smith says:

    as an architect (and as a person), I am fascinated by these folded paper models. Having made many models myself, It is very intriguing seeing these models all fold out from the same piece of paper. I would love a chance to break away from the day to day and be creative in another way… I really didnt mean to rhyme that.
    thanks.

  11. Jay says:

    This book seem awesome!
    And since I suck with Coding AND electronics i could put my dexterity to some use with this kindof book ^^

    I’m good to the a boat…or a hat..depend how you see it =P
    If i get one of these,I’ll definitly post some pics if i get to complete one of these wonderfull loooking projects ^^

    And yes,this is paper XD

    jordan2_delta@hotmail.com

  12. carboncanyon says:

    I’ve been messing around with Pepakura (http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/), and this would be a great book to have for inspiration.

  13. Tribster says:

    Looks like a very cool book, I can imagine lighting the projects with LEDs :)

  14. jake says:

    I would love to use some plans and get some good ideas instead of continuing to build ‘houses’ for my daughter’s stuffed animals out of old cardboard boxes and teaching her how side views can be cut out to create a 3-D model.

    (jakehuffman@gmail.com)

  15. KellyFaerie says:

    I’m jumping off the deep end into a new career as a photographer and a crafts instructor. I would love to preview this book to recommend it to students, and as you might expect, money’s tight right now. Looks like an awesome book, and I agree with Tribster; would be fun coupled with soft circuits projects and/or conductive inks!

  16. KellyFaerie says:

    signed in using openid and it didn’t give me a chance to put in my address.

    amianda@secretpassageway.net

    Thanks!

  17. Andrewfm says:

    I built my first paper model during spring break of my sophomore year in high school (it was the Eiffel Tower) and have completed more than forty since then. All of them great buildings from around the world.

    I have a few of them displayed on a web site here: http://www.geocities.com/andrewfm/

    I would love to have a copy of this book.

  18. HL says:

    Wow, the projects showcased from the book look amazing. I need to give paper craft a try!

  19. shyguy567 says:

    I would like the Paper Architect book, because it would be an interesting thing to learn about and could be useful in my engineering club at school or perhaps in drafting class.

  20. shyguy567 says:

    I would like the Paper Architect book, because it would be an interesting thing to learn about and could be useful in my engineering club at school or perhaps in drafting class.

    Didn’t catch the thing about the e-mail until now:

    guitarboy667@aim.com

  21. shyguy567 says:

    I would like the Paper Architect book, because it would be an interesting thing to learn about and could be useful in my engineering club at school or perhaps in drafting class.

    Didn’t catch the thing about the e-mail until now:

    guitarboy667@aim.com

  22. tess says:

    I have a brother who’s notoriously difficult to buy gifts for, and I would love to give him something like this because he did all sorts of things like this with “trash” that our mother would otherwise have thrown away (speed boats, helicopters, fighter jets, etc).

    And since his b-day’s in August, that means I get a few months to play with this!

  23. Bob Griffith says:

    My son turns nine on Monday and this would be a good book for use to work on together.

  24. Sleep Goblin says:

    I had a degree in architectural history, and went to grad school for historic preservation. Now I spend my days running an office by day, and running my craft business by night. I would love to have this book to remind me of my architecture days!!!!!

  25. Diana K says:

    I made a dodecahedron from origami paper when my kids were little and I still have it. I tried to explain to someone what it was and they were sure that I made up the word to make myself sound smart! Dur.

  26. cityprole says:

    I’m about to retire from a labourer’s job-the only way I could keep sane was to imagine being anywhere else and doing anything else-of course vast architectural fantasies were a part of this, and, since I’ll never have the money necessary to travel, but lots of time, I’d love to ‘travel’ through the pages of this wonderful book and create something three-dimensional, at least a version of those fantasies that none of us realize except in ‘play’ dream
    WendiG

    cityprole@gmail.com

  27. Bayne says:

    I’m a single dad with 2 young daughters and I am constantly trying to find new crafty projects for them. These keep them away from the TV and give me a much needed respite from princesses, faeries and My Pretty Ponies (I have actually had to dress up as a princess when I ran out of art supplies). This book would be fantastic for them.

  28. Jason Ellis says:

    I saw this book in an ad yesterday, and went to view the reviews/info on Amazon.com. I grew up doing lots of origami, and would love to branch out into this hobby.

    Looks like a lot of fun!

    Jason Ellis

  29. rmadams says:

    This book would go great with some of my other papercraft activities, including my (rather large) build of the Titanic (see http://www.skotophile.com/quick-n-dirty/titanic/ for some pictures and a 3D view-around.) My current project is a design for a paper-based robot arm that schoolkids could throw together to start experimenting with pick-n-place robotics… email is mark at skotophile dot com.

  30. MB says:

    I’ve built some model papercraft Halloween Horror Nights haunted house facades that Universal Studios had up on their website a while back. I really need to build some “real” places!

  31. Mel says:

    There are so many great paper related books coming out at the moment. It’s fantastic!
    I’m a paper artist, and would love to add this book to my collection. My work can be seen at http://www.ToBoldlyFold.com. I’d have to say that my favorite work is a book called Caged Song that is a accordion style book that can be shown in many different ways.

  32. niphsup says:

    not me! i do love it. i used to build the sloppiest paper airplane models when i was real little, but it didn’t matter because i loved them, poorly glued wings and all. i also remember making a huge, “phantom tollbooth”-inspired paper dodecahedron for an elementary school project back in the day, of which i was inordinately proud. since then i’ve taken detours into origami (i tried to fold a room-sized piece of paper into an octopus once) and cardboard construction (frank gehry’s very cool cardboard furniture inspired this disastrous series of projects), but this kind of papercraft was my first love. (i feel like i’m presenting an electronic paper resume!)

    anyway, i probably shouldn’t get one of these books, because all i need is another set of super fun but totally distracting projects. but on the other hand, the book looks amazing, and i would love a chance to get back to my papercraft roots…okay do it! i’ll take one!

  33. Richard says:

    This book remembers me of Escher. And in 3d! Whooooooa!

  34. trshant says:

    i was always interested in making paper models. this looks really interesting. and it is time i had a hobby. So can i please have the book?

  35. Kurt Bradley says:

    Please give it to someone else. I’d like to have it, but I will buy it so some other person who can’t afford it can have it.

  36. Brandi says:

    I’ve never tried papercraft– this might be a cool way to start…

  37. Evernevermore says:

    I’ve done some scratchbuilding but never made the jump to papercraft. This book looks like a good entry to papercraft, thats why I want it.

    Johnscheib2@gmail.com

  38. MJ says:

    I’ve always been amazed by papercrafting. I’ve been teaching for 32 years. Maybe when I retire, I can give it a try.

    mj.coward[at]gmail.com

  39. Sam Riddleburger says:

    If you’ve read my novel*, which has a chapter called The Origami Pegasus Disaster, you know that my papercrafting dreams have sometimes crashed and burned. But they’ve never been crushed. I refuse to give in. I will fold, I will X-acto, I will even score if absolutely necesary — but I will never give up! Especially not if I get this cool new book.
    -Sam

    *You probably haven’t.

  40. J_Hodgie says:

    I recently spent my spring break making the paper craft http://ninjatoes.wordpress.com/2007/02/02/the-legend-of-zelda-wolf-link/ and http://ninjatoes.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/the-legend-of-zelda-midna/ , I would love to try this.

    I can remember designing and trying to build paper craft in grade 1 or 2 when my school got some new software and windows 95 computers.

  41. http://openid.codoxide.com/sameera says:

    Not really..
    But please please please?
    I would so love to get into doing this on my spare time :D

  42. n9squared says:

    My favorite papercraft projects involve origami. This book would add a different dimension to my paper repertoire.

  43. Jenn W. says:

    I would absolutely LOVE to have a copy of this book. I actually started with more intricate pumpkin carving, but would like to move over to paper cutting because paper doesn’t rot! :P

  44. Blake says:

    For months I’ve been obsessively building paper characters like Ben the Illustrator’s Speakerdog series. I’d be fun to build something more grandiose, like the Taj Mahal.

  45. Gareth Branwyn says:

    I’m loving all of these posts and hearing about people’s papercraft projects. Keep ’em coming! Please post links to you projects if you have them. I want to do a follow-up post and show some of the work done by makers.

  46. Brian Frost says:

    I would really enjoy working on these with my kiddos.

    bfrost@brainboy.com

  47. muliebrity says:

    I was lucky enough to visit New York several years ago when they had some of their work on display. They are incredibly talented designers. Would love to have the book and be able to make the buildings. Thank you for having this contest.

  48. crisplinen says:

    wow amazing… i wish i make one

  49. ann says:

    whoa, this looks rad… my manual dexterity sucks so maybe this would help? good times!

  50. Daniel says:

    Feeble poetry begging…

    With a limerick I hereby implore thee,
    to bestow this fine book upon me.
    Though architect by trade,
    nothing paper I’ve made,
    and I desire more versatile to be.

  51. ycj says:

    My fave papercraft was a Golden Gate Bridge with a San Francisco skyline pop-up card I made with my little sister. She wants to be an engineer when she grows up and this book would be perfect for her since it combines crafts with engineering :D

  52. ycj says:

    sorry, forgot my email: chi_jhen[at]yahoo.com

  53. Danielle Yu says:

    Whenever my sisters come home from college, we always sit around the dinner table and create amazing pop up cards. Out of paper comes 3-d cafes, bridges, and figurines. I think this book will take our little creations to great heights!

  54. gianouts says:

    This looks like a very cool book. As a solution architect, doing paper architecture appeals.

  55. MissTahi says:

    ‘the experinece is everything’ and as an Experience Architect… this is heaven!

  56. JacqueChadall says:

    My wife teases me about my papercraft hobby (mostly TV show characters), but for the cost of some cardstock and printer ink, it’s about as cheap a hobby as you can get for the amount of time you get out of it. It’s a sort of meditation to me. I tune out the TV, forget about the stress of the day and just relax with some razor blades, scissors and a little glue.
    I built a set of book shelves that take up an entire wall in my basement and a bunch of it is now dedicated to my paper craft characters. Unfortunately, the cats snuck down there a few weeks ago and devastated the paper population. It was not that upsetting because I look at it as a cleansing so I have more room for new ones and I never wanted to get rid of any of the others I did myself. Oddly enough, the one character they chewed and really tore apart worse than the others was “Kenny” from “South Park”. Never thought I’d be calling my cats “B*st*rds”, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to apply that quote when it was so applicable.

    –JacqueChadall
    maker@kurtroedeger.com

  57. Thomas Haaks says:

    This book just looks amazing!
    I started with some Origami as a kid, last yearI created a “Love you” popup card for my wife and built a paper Star Wars AT-AT with my son.

    So I just need this book to continue my paper craft ;-)

  58. khk says:

    … and besides looking for a new opportunity, I have a lot of time on my hands, so I really could use the book…

    BTW: Anybody looking for an experienced software engineer with almost 20 years of extensive experience in all phases of the software life cycle?

  59. Ed says:

    In addition to being a papercraft fan and having more desire than skill, I work in the architectural/construction field and would love to have a go at making some of these structures!

  60. Tom says:

    I can’t draw, but I sure can follow directions!

    I’ve always wanted to do something artistic, but it’s beyond me. Papercraft would be something good for me I think.

  61. Richard E Grzeskowiak says:

    To make connections with my grandchildren, I started studying and executing pop-up cards and Origamic Architecture (OA) for them on special occasions. I’ve not attempted complex stuff, but knowing the work of Marivi and Ingrid (not Joyce, unfortunately), these will be challenging yet satisfying-for me and for them. Thanks for the offer.
    richandann@voyager.net

  62. Cory says:

    I bought a papercraft clock book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060910666/jimloyshomepage) complete with weight and pendulum back in the day but never got it working right. This project seems much easier.

  63. NLG says:

    My family would LOVE this!!

  64. the black dog says:

    These are lovely. There is something very satisfying about making papercraft buildings that doesn’t seem to track to other ‘pre-fab’ art projects. Why is that?

  65. pharnsworth says:

    … but I’m still going to show off a little. :) I’ve designed somewhere north of 30 paper models. Everything at http://www.daisey-designs.com is mine. And a couple of other notables – 1/16 scale Heath-Henderson lightplane engine:
    http://www.daisey-designs.com/heath-thread/hp10a.jpg and
    http://www.daisey-designs.com/heath-thread/hp13.jpg .
    I even had one published, in the 2005 Indy 500 official program:
    http://www.daisey-designs.com/buddy04.jpg and
    http://www.daisey-designs.com/500program/prg1.JPG

    Ryan
    madcitymakers.com

  66. obie says:

    papercraft is great, especially when dealing with young kids. I have three daughters, the eldest of which is 5 and constantly eager to work on ‘projects’. this book would be a great opportunity for some killer father/daughter time that doesn’t revolve around Hello Kitty or Disney Princesses.

    MAKE rules!

  67. obie says:

    I don’t understand where my email address would get put without being published, but here you go: gstinson@gmail.com . Thanks.

  68. Emilicon says:

    I *need* a copy of this ace book as a gift for a friend with whom I worked on an alternate reality game last year where we decided a paper model of a building in Edinburgh was to be the starter clue – we still need lots of help developing this idea and the book would provide excellent guidance. I may well deserve it thanks to being slightly damaged by the glue fumes inhaled a few years ago when friends and I made the following film clip for a band (for free of course, hence making me even more deserving) which necessitated our building an arena out of cardboard & paper and paper cutouts of staged photos of the band as they ran about their paper world – Who’s Your Daddy?

  69. Eric Broekhuis says:

    I’ve been doing Origamic Architecture for quite a few years now. Mostly cards, Christmas, birthday, etc… but also some Buildings similar to those in this book. Some patterns I found on the internet ans some I’ve designed myself. I’ve followed these authors for some time and they do amazing work. It’s a great hobby. I know whoever gets the books will enjoy it. I know I would. Thanks Crown Publishing and Make for making the books available.

  70. Lee says:

    I absolutely love the models coming from Flying Pig, the flying pig and the Mexican Peck are the best.

    They have a set of instructional book for classroom exercises as well… we are trying to adapt this sort of thing for use with Pepakura and laser cutters for a summer session class on paper craft design and toys.

    http://www.flying-pig.co.uk

  71. D says:

    I study architecture, and I love paper crafts!

  72. sburlappp says:

    My sister-in-law is an ex-architect who likes scrapbooking. I’m thinking this book would be enough to start her out on a whole new hobby!

  73. Jacob P. Silvia says:

    This book likes it would be an amazing book to look at to see what crazy things people are doing with paper instead of brick, mortar, or wood. I used to do papercraft buildings with my dad when I was a kid, and I find myself always fascinated by the things people do w.r.t. papercraft.

  74. Shellie Seering says:

    Summer is right around the corner, and I think my teenage son would LOVE creating some of these wonderful buildings.

  75. ikkinlala says:

    May Canadians enter? I think this book would be a great way to learn and practice some papercraft skills that I’ll then be able to use for my own papercraft creations.

  76. S says:

    I am an architecture grad student, so I make models all the time, and now I do everything mostly on the computer. But there is something so nice about being able to hold a model of a building in your hand. I would love to have this book!

  77. SPF says:

    I’ve always been fascinated origamic architecture and recently was able to create a popup card for my GF for our first Valentine’s Day together (which she loved!). This book looks great and I’d love to have a copy..

  78. Wendy G says:

    I love papercrafts because they combine two of my favorite things, art and engineering, and can incorporate so many other types of crafts. My recent projects have been a light-up LED heart card for my boyfriend for Valentine’s Day and a simple clockwork nodding sheep toy (made of paper).

  79. elisabetta says:

    it is wonderfull, wonderfulll, wonderfullll !!!!!

  80. garethb2 says:

    Contest submissions are now closed. Winners will be announced tomorrow. Thanks for telling us about your papercraft projects and how you’d use this book. It’s fun to learn more about folks on our site and what sorts of projects you do.

    Please don’t let the end of the contest be the end of the conversation…

  81. Carrie Gates says:

    I love paper. Every bit of it. I have been doing origami and Chinese papercuts since I was a child (I’m 32 now) and I am always looking for ways to expand my concepts and methodology. I used to teach papercraft lessons, but now I am more interested in finding ways to challenge myself by going deeper into the art of making two dimensions into three…or four ;) I really like the book “Origami: Angelfish to Zen” and how it equates papercraft patterns with chaois theory and fractal patterns in nature and such. I will even mail you one of my special creations if you give me the book…and I promise you will not be disappointed. I truly would be grateful to have access to your expertise. Thanks! :)

    (oh yes otherartists at gmail dot com is how to reach me…and please DO!)

  82. Dana Jessop says:

    I’ve spent 2 hours searching for these types of patterns and certainly intend to buy this book. Amazing.

  83. JeanB says:

    I teach Art in a K-8 urban parochial school in Santa Ana, CA. I had recently discovered Origamic Architecture and showed my students some examples of it and they are absolutely enthralled. We have been working on some simple structure projects, and the students are totally into it. They want to do more sophisticated projects. This book would be a terrific resource for my students and me. Our supplies are very limited and paper craft is a wonderful way for the students to explore 3D art. Even the students who are normally less motivated are trying to achieve success with this art form. Some of my students asked to stay in at recess so they could finish their projects.

    Have I begged well enough? Thank you so much for the contest and I hope you will consider us.

    JeanB

  84. Gareth Branwyn says:

    @JeanB

    Sorry to say, but this contest ended a LONG time again. It IS an awesome book and you just consider getting ahold of it if you can. You might try and see if you can get it on the cheap via bookfinder.com, or even bookmooch.

  85. electricbunnies says:

    I am a beginning engineering student and this book caught ny interest while doing project research for my Survey of Art & Culture class. I feel this book could be a great learning tool for me(or my children).

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Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

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