Flame Lamp Shade - Modular Structure

On this page, you'll find the tutorial and process for creating a flame-shaped self-standing structure made up of laser-cut paper pieces.

0.35mm Brown Paper

4mm diameter brads

Laser Cutting Machine

Though modular, this project was built with the intention to be more variable and dynamic. My partner and I wanted to design the modular piece so that we would have some flexibility when assembling the structure to create an asymmetrical and free flowing result. Above, you can see some sketches as we developed the idea.

Above, you'll find the shape we settled on and the first few that we cut out by hand. After laser-cutting some samples, we adjusted some measurements to ensure that the modules would be symmetrical and easy to attach to each other.

You'll also see above a video of the first sheet of modules that we cut out. You'll notice that as we were arranging them on the illustrator file, we didn't account for all the dimensions of the paper we would be cutting out. Those measurements are important to maximize the usable space.

We put together the base in a very tight and predictable pattern, to create the strong foundation that would establish the rest of the structure. Then, we played around with the modules to create designs for the upper layers. I used more pieces to create looser and more exciting shapes in the middle layers, and pulled them together with a few tight, pointed variants for the top.

Finally, I went back through to make sure the tops of the brads were facing outwards, replaced some pieces that had gotten too creased, and connected pieces that were overlapping or otherwise close enough to be held together. See the images above for the finished project!