Math Monday: Cut and Fold Escher

Science

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. And he has a new best-of writing collection and “lazy man’s memoir,” called Borg Like Me.

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May 9th, 2011 8

By George Hart for the Museum of Mathematics

The Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher has inspired many people to create mathematical artwork. This elegant cut-and-fold paper model of Escher’s famous lithograph, Relativity, is a virtuoso homage to Escher’s genius.

Bryan Peele designed this construction, which is cut from a single sheet of 8.5 by 11 inch paper and cleverly locks together without glue or tape.

The full scale version of his template, to print, cut, and fold your own paper copy, is available here. Note that Escher’s original design really is constructible in 3D. It is not a perspective trick or optical illusion, and so has also been realized in Lego and other materials.

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8 thoughts on “Math Monday: Cut and Fold Escher”

Cory Poole says:

May 9th, 2011 at 7:13 pm

I’ve made this before from this diagram. It turns out really cool. Doesn’t take that long either. Probably about an hour.
chuck weiss says:

May 9th, 2011 at 7:15 pm

Amazing, and so simple!
smily baby says:

May 13th, 2011 at 11:14 am

Mindblowing
MAKE | How-To: Möbius Strip Wrist Band says:

March 6th, 2012 at 6:02 am

[…] Math Monday: Cut and Fold Escher […]

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Math Monday: Cut and Fold Escher

By Gareth Branwyn