Help me find instructions on how to fold this collapsing map.

May 9, 2006 2:33 PM

Can anyone give me directions on how to fold this style of collapsing map. It's fairly easy to reverse engineer but I would like to have some comprehensive guidelines if possible.

I once had a guidebook (to Rome) which contained a map of the city centre folded like this and stuck to the inside back cover and back page. It opened up and closed almost automatically and although I created a duplicated I have now lost it.

I'd like to experiment with using this type of fold in one of my personal projects (books for children). Any other interesting book folding/pop-up book links would be greatly appreciated.

posted by Glum to Media & Arts (6 answers total)

You can tell how to fold it by looking at the images. After you fold it it's just a case of "training" the paper to go in and out at the right places.
posted by fire&wings at 3:07 PM on May 9, 2006

Best answer: Its a traditional Asian map folding tecnique, that puts a lot less stress on the joints than a western fold. Page 106 of this book has the instructions, but my copy is at my mothers's house, so I cant check to summarize.
posted by Davidicus at 7:21 PM on May 9, 2006

it's true... do a "search inside", search for "map", then click page 106
posted by hatsix at 9:14 PM on May 9, 2006

Best answer: Start with the water bomb base [pdf] then take the corners marked C,E,F and G (in the pdf example) and fold them towards the centre crease. Unfold the corners and then open the pyramid up slightly and fold the points inwards. You'll wind up with a piece of paper that looks like a house when your done. (here are some photos of the last two steps).

I could've sworn that this is a base for something or other but it has been such a long time since I've done any origami, I couldn't find a more specific example.
posted by squeak at 10:04 PM on May 9, 2006

Hey, neat. I stared at the amazon sample pages for the book, and pulled up the index, but wasn't awake enough to figure out how to pull up the exact page.
Thanks!
posted by Davidicus at 4:18 AM on May 10, 2006

Was going through my feeds and noticed something called a turkish fold, took a peek and whadda ya know? Complete instructions. So thought I'd add it to the list since mine are kinda sucky and amazon wont let you preview and ol' page unless you have made a purchase from them before.
posted by squeak at 12:03 PM on June 22, 2006