We’re finally coming to the end of the Best Origami of 2018 posts!

This time we’re going to look at the best modular models. These are pretty much all geometric shapes created from multiple sheets of paper folded into individual units and assembled together. This also includes kusudamas.

You can vote for your favourite model at the end of this post. Voting will be open for two weeks and close on October 25, 2019.

We’ll start off with a mind-blowing model from Byriah Loper. Byriah Loper is pretty much the master of modular origami and it was pretty hard to narrow it down to a few models for this post.

This crazy creation is folded from 270 units!

1) Thirty Interlocking Irregular Equatorially Truncated Triangularly Distorted Dipoles, Designed and Folded by Byriah Loper

Instructions not available

Next we have this beautiful soft looking rose kusudama. It’s assembled from 30 individual units. Definitely one of my favourite kusudama models.

2) Roses Kusudama, Designed by Masha Athanasiadi and Folded by Natalia Romanenko

Diagrams available in Kusudama Bouquet 2

Here’s another fantastic looking kusudama. I really like the curly shapes here. It’s always cool to see models with curls instead of just perfectly straight angles like you see most of the time. This kusudama is also assembled from 30 units.

3) Le Feu, Designed and Folded by Masha Athanasiadi

Diagrams available in Kusudama Bouquet Book 6

Next we have a pretty unique and complex looking kusudama. I really like all those spirals! This is folded from 120 individual units.

4) Arkadia Var. Designed and Folded by Valentina Minayeva

Instructions not available

This next model is titled “Unfathomable” which sums it up pretty good. I have no idea how you could assemble 480 individual units like this!

5) Unfathomable, Designed and Folded by Byriah Loper

Instructions not available

Here we have something a bit simpler but I really like the shapes and colours here plus it’s beautifully folded.

6) Tornado, Designed and Folded by Jaime Niño

Instructions not available

Since paper is so thin you can really get some cool looking results when you add a light inside something like a kusudama. The light looks especially great here glowing inside this awesome star.

7) Bascetta Star, Designed by Paolo Bascetta and Folded by Uschi Mitzkat

Video Instructions available from EzOrigami’s YouTube channel

I really like how this next model is a combination of a kusudama and tessellation. It’s beautifully folded too, especially with the blue and red paper which makes a gorgeous colour combination.

8) Hydrangea, Designed by Shuzo Fujimoto and Folded by Akira Nguyen

Instructions for the units and a modular cube are available from Michał Kosmulski’s Flickr

Here’s another fantastic model from Byriah Loper this time ti’s a bit less complex so you can really see the individual shapes. This one is folded from 270 units.

9) 30 Interlocking Irregular Hyperboloidal Triangular Prisms v7.1, Designed and Folded by Byriah Loper

Instructions not available

This is another fantastic kudusama with really nice shapes and fall colours.

10) Vagaria, Designed and Folded by Masha Athanasiadi

Instructions not available

Tomoaki Yano has a very unique style when it comes to designing kusudamas. This model sums up that style pretty well and looks very different from most kusudamas. It’s folded from 90 units.

11) No Name, Designed and Folded by Tommoaki Yano

Instructions not available

This model is called “Incomprehensible” and it’s a pretty good companion to that “Unfathomable” model from earlier. This is assembled from 240 individual units. The colour scheme here is really nice and I like the angle of the photo and how you can see into the middle from here.

12) Incomprehensible, Designed and Folded by Byriah Loper

Instructions not available

Uschi Mitzkat has a pretty cool ability to make her kusudamas look like marbles which you can really see here with those extra marbles in the photograph. The blue, green and white colour scheme is absolutely gorgeous with this model.

13) Nautica, Designed by Maria Sinayskaya and Folded by Uschi Mitzkat

Instructions not available

I’m also a big fan of kusudama models that are open in the center like this one. They look much more delicate and harder to fold. This one looks amazing with that tye-dye paper and it’s folded fantastically.

14) Ostara Kusudama, Designed by Maria Sinayskaya and Folded by Akira Nguyen

Instructions not available

I really like the choice of paper used in this next kusudama with the combination of grey and that white and gold pattern. You can really change the look and feel of models like this with different colours and patterns on your paper.

15) Taj Mahal, Designed by Valentina Minayeva and Folded by Irina Chisa

Photo diagrams available here

Here’s another really excellent kusudama that uses curves instead of perfectly straight lines. The star-shaped swirls look excellent here. It’s folded from 30 units.

16) Anemonella, Designed and Folded by Masha Athanasiadi

Instructions not available

This final model is really cool. It looks like something’s either growing on it or you have a star poking through it. The yellow part looks very organic while the blue part looks more manufactured and together it’s a very interesting combination. I also really like how the yellow paper is slightly transparent.

17) Lobivia Flowers, Designed by Valentina Minayeva – Bascetta Star, Designed by Paolo Bascetta all Folded by Hongam Zhang

Lobivia Flowers instructions not available

Bascetta Star instructions available from EZ Origami’s YouTube channel

Which one of these do you think is the best modular origami model of 2018? Vote below!

Feel free to vote for your own model and to encourage other people to vote as well. Voting will be open for 2 weeks and close on October 25, 2019.

Voting is now closed.