Kawasaki Light Art is inspired by flat-foldable origami. In Mathematics of paper folding, Kawasaki’s theorem, named after Toshikazu Kawasaki, gives a criterion for determining whether a crease pattern with a single vertex may be folded to form a flat figure. For a design to be completely folded into a flat figure, one of the requirements is that Kawasaki’s theorem must be satisfied at each vertex.

 

Each Kawasaki Light Art can be folded from a single piece of sheet material, in either Tyvek or Hi-tec Kozo.  It can be folded into flat figures and can then be deployed into a three-dimensional volume. Therefore, Kawasaki lights can be shipped in small, flat, and light packages and can be easily assembled using plastic buttons.