Geometric Origami Wall Art With Sonobe Units

Make the First Folds

For this tutorial, we'll be making a triangular shape using nine Sonobe units. Start with a piece of square paper, white side up if it has one.

Fold the bottom edge of the paper up to the top and unfold, creating a horizontal crease.

Next, fold the top and bottom edges to the central crease.

Fold the bottom right corner up diagonally.

Fold the top left corner down diagonally.

Unfold Your First Folds

Unfold the two previous diagonal folds. You are left with little diagonal flaps on the bottom left and top right. Unfold fully, so you're back to the beginning.

Re-fold the bottom left and top right diagonal flaps, making sure that they align with the horizontal crease. Next, re-fold the bottom edge up.

Fold the Corners

Re-fold the bottom right corner up diagonally. Next, re-fold the top edge down.

Now re-fold the top left corner down diagonally and slot the flap underneath the bottom left section.

Make the Final Folds

Rotate the unit counter-clockwise. Flip the unit over to the back, from left to right.

Fold the bottom corner up to the top right corner (on a diagonal), aligning with the right edge. Next, fold the top corner down to match the bottom one.

Flip the unit over from left to right. Crease the unit in half, along the line that runs diagonally from top left to bottom right. Your first unit is complete. You will need nine of them if you are making a triangular wall display.

Begin Assembling the Sonobe Units

For this tutorial, we used three sets of three matching colors.

Take three of your units, and arrange them as shown, tucking the end of one unit under the fold of another.

Slot them all together. If you are aiming for a color-coordinated effect, make sure the order of colors is the same each time. In this case, it's blue, yellow, green.

Do this for all of your units.

Combine the Units

Once you have all three sets of units completed, you can slot them together. Again, keep the color order: blue, yellow, green.

Now that you have your nine units assembled, you can keep adding more units, creating larger geometric shapes such as a hexagon, slanted rectangle, or an uneven shape. 

Once you have your desired shape completed, carefully flip your units over to the other side. You can either fold the ends over and glue them inside or trim them off. 

To mount them on a wall, use a piece of stiff cardboard or foam board; cut it to the same size as your wall art by tracing around your assembled Sonobe units on the board and then cutting it out. Use PVA glue or a hot glue gun to attach your art to the board.

Display Your Origami Sonobe Wall Art

You can achieve a standout piece of origami wall art by using large paper to make the units—in this example, 30-centimeter square metallic paper was used.

Alternatively, use small sheets of crisp white paper to create your wall art. It may be more time consuming, but the result is a very detailed piece of origami wall art—a perfect statement for a dining room.