The Paper Architect: Fold-it-yourself Buildings and Structures with 20 Ready-to-Use Templates Hardcover-spiral – February 3, 2009

I ordered this book because I have been getting into all things Paper! Well, when I stumbled out of bed this afternoon I was presented with the news that it had arrived! Soon I was fumbling with the package and opening the book itself. The projects, templates and facts are all so amazing! I was anxious to get started so I set up, read the basics and went to the first template. UH OH! What on earth is a half-cut!? Valley fold? Mountain fold? I couldn't find any helpful explanations. So as everyone does when in need of knowledge I googled these terms. No helpful hits! Yahoo? Nope... Ask? Nothing. I was frustrated, I felt both stupid and irritated because my artistic juices were wanting to flow. Then I went through the book and found a page with the information of the three authors and decided to call the phone number for one of them. Two rings of the phone and I got a real, living and very friendly person! Even better was she spoke English. She was very kind and explained in detail what each term was and how to do them.There is no doubt that this book is worth every cent I paid if not more. In fact I'm going to look fir more books by the author who's info I used to contact someone for help. If you know you like papercraft stuff like this then I urge you to buy this book!The designs are actually much easier then they look. If you are newer to this then you will feel intimidated and you may decide to give up. My advice is don't quit! There is no need to be intimidated. The templates this book include are completely covered in guide lines. I do recommend that you have ALL the supplies they suggest! If you don't have a ruler your lines will end up crooked and that will effect the project to some degree. The book is spiral bound so it's not a pain to keep the book open. This will come in handy in the way that you'll be able to keep an eye on the instructions while you are working. I decided to do my first project on scrapbooking paper which seems like it will work pretty well, but the book does suggest you use some form of cardstock. Some of the tools it suggest are a craft knife, cardstock, metal edged ruler, bamboo skewer and a blunt knife.As fun as this is for adults, I think if you have a smart and very artistic teen, this would make the perfect gift for them. This is a book I'd buy for my friends and family who like this sort of thing, yes it would be the first item I would consider for them.Have fun crafting!

As far as I know this is the only book in the U.S.A. that focuses solely on kirigami/origami architecture. For each model there is a large picture of the finished result, a fact sheet, (which I found really cool since you can learn about the building you're working on), and a pattern which clearly shows where to cut, where to mountain fold and where to valley fold. These patterns can also be easily be removed for use. All the projects are impressive looking and conveniently organized by difficulty. I'm also happy with the variety of architectural styles. There is everything from bridges to tall vertical structures, edgy to round, ancient to modern. I think there is enough variety that after creating all the models in this book you could possibly figure out how to create other buildings on your own.If you want to make the models larger than the pattern in the book you can measure each cut and multiply them each by the same percent, (depending on how large or small you want to go), or you could scan the image and blow it up. There is a lot of entertainment to be had as this is a rather time consuming project. Keep in mind you will need an exacto knife or razor blade, stiff paper such as card stock or poster board, and possibly a metal ruler. I would definitely recommend this book which combines history, cultural geography, mathematics, and art into fun.

this book is for any budding paper sculpter who always wanted to learn but didnt know where to start. the paper sculpts can be fiddly and hard to do at times but their step by step instructions are very well laid out and the finshed products are simply amazing! its very easy to add personal touches to make them your own by adding small stencils of moons and stars in the sky or a small camel next to the pryamids! a must for lovers of pop up

The book is ok, maybe I was expecting that it will show proper technique and understanding to convert any structure to paper architecture but this is more like print the samples and cut and fold them rather than a tutorial.Still it has got some very famous buildings to its credit so still worth it. If you are smart enough to learn from that then great.

The book was in better condition than I expected! The only complaint I have is that the template for the Golden Gate Bridge was missing, and that template was one of the reasons for my purchase initially; however, the fact the book is otherwise in perfect condition allowed me to overlook the missing template and not let that interfere with your 5-star review. I love that it is spiral-bound and that the templates are perforated. The asking price was fair as well. Thank you, Seller! I will happily purchase books from you in the future & feel I can recommend you with confidence.

Love the patterns just not sure I could use an cutting blade needed to be skilled enough to make patterns.

I first saw this item at a local bookstore but decided not to buy it because it was torn.This book is very interesting in various ways.The first part explains what tools to use and how to fold certain areas. Depending on the complexity of the building you may need to be more careful.The second part shows you the different buildings/monuments, gives information on them and shows a photographic example of the paper model. It shows a step-by-step on how to cut and fold the different areas.The last part are copies of the actual paper models that you have to cut and fold.I suggest you photocopy this on an another paper (preferably 80lb because they are stronger). That way this book will late you longer.All in all I am very happy with this book. It's a great stress reliever and my students are amazed with it.