Kirigami
Antennas
Kirigami Antennas is a research exploration centering on e-textile meta-materials, using the technique of Kirigami, a Japanese art-making process where flat paper is cut and folded to form 3-dimensional shapes.
In this project, kirigami-inspired freestanding lace patterns have been designed in order to fabricate soft sculptural 3D antennas that are cognizant of their use and relation to space.
Research project assistant and collaborator: Zoe Kaputa
With the progression of technology as integrated into daily life, physical tech has become increasingly embedded or hidden from the user’s view. Because of this design change, many of the aesthetics that previously defined everyday technology have disappeared from the public eye. Our ability to connect the capability of technology with the spacial world it utilizes has disappeared with it. This notion is especially true for antenna design. An object that was once visible on cars, houses, and phones is now so embedded in the devices that use it that its technology is essentially formless. Kirigami Antennas is a research exploration centering on e-textile meta-materials, designing antennas that are cognizant of their use and relation to space. This collection of antennas are not embedded nor hidden. They instead borrow from the art of Kirigami to re-insert themselves into the 3D space from which they receive their signals. Through experimentation with Kirigami antenna shapes, we are able to design freestanding lace antennas that effectively received electromagnetic signals at a wide range of frequencies, picking up AM, FM, and HAM radio, along with other data transmissions. Kirigami Antennas provides a space for experimentation with antennas as objects that help us reach and search through space.