How to make an origami Pixelated Pyramid
Designed by Jo Nakashima (05/2020)
Difficulty level: simple
This is a modular origami and each cube is made from a single square sheet of paper, all connected without glue.
With few units you probably won’t think it looks like a pyramid – that is because it’s like a very low resolution pixel art of a pyramid! But it can be escalated to add more pixels: each level will require more and more cubes and there is no theoretical upper limit! (see below how to find the number of sheets you need for each level)
I’ve created many other models from the basic cube unit. For more figures that can be escalated indefinitely, see also the Pixelated Octahedron and the Menger Sponge. If you like puzzles, try the Soma Cube and the Rubik’s Cube!
Paper
In the video tutorial I’m using 12cm x 12cm origami paper for each cube. The origami Pixelated Pyramid can be built with different sizes, so the number of cubes varies. See the table below:
More info: Pyramidal number
Helpful videos
To make each cube you’ll need to fold a 5×5 grid on every sheet of paper. In the tutorial I show the “origami way” to do that, without a ruler or any kind of tool. However, there are easier methods and the videos below can help you in this task: