This page shows various constructions I have made based on polyhedral symmetries. Most are not exactly polyhedral models, which are shown on the paper models page. For some computer-generated constructions (too hard to make physically) see my Pavilion of Polyhedreality, and for some more permanent materials, see my sculpture gallery.
Here
is a pipe-cleaner construction based on the icosahedral symmetry group.
Pipe cleaners are fast and easy to work with. I highly recommend playing
with them, especially in a classroom.
This
is one of a series of "spherical baskets" I once constructed.
It is made of strips of colored paper glued into rings. (Have some paper
clips handy to hold things together while under construction.)
This
icosahedral construction is made of yellow paper.
Here is an intricate "weave," in which different "faces" are given different patterns. You need to see it in person to really get the idea.
This
is a simple tensegrity dodecahedron made of straws and rubber bands. I
wrote some instructions for you to make
your own.
This
tensegrity structure, based on the truncated icosahedron, is built from
wooden coffee stirrers and dacron thread. The closeup shows how no two
sticks touch each other.
From
metal, you can make models which withstand rough handling (good for passing
around a classroom). In front is a (welded steel) icosahedron,
at left is a (soldered wire) rhombic
triacontahedron, and at right is a (brazed copper) icosahedral construction
(made of 30 rectangles of which two opposite edges were cut round).
This
is a construction made of twelve pentagrams (parts of the great
dodecahemidodecahedron or the great
icosidodecahedron). It is made from twelve paper stars which are slit
to slide into each other and lock together without glue or tape. I have
written a page with instructions and other
examples of this type.