Dodecahedral Move Form

This model can transform into different 2D and 3D shapes from a star to a cylinder, to a dodecahedron. This "move form" was invented by Hiroshi Tomura.

Materials

• Flexible plastic sheet. I used a plastic file folder.
  
• Eyelets and eyelet setter or miniature brads.
  
• Hole punch to match the diameter of the eyelet or brad.
  

Steps

1. Cut 30 strips from plastic about 15 mm × 80 mm.
   
2. Punch small holes in both ends. The holes should fit the eyelet or brad that you will use to put them together.
   
3. Assemble the pieces as shown. to form two parts of the model. Then connect the two parts together by joining the pieces (three at each vertex) to make pentagons. The order of the pieces at each vertex is shown. The topmost piece is labeled "1." Do not set the eyelets too firmly. The pieces should still be able to pivot freely.
   

Notes

• Note: I created my model based on only one low-resolution picture that I found at the link below. If you assemble the pieces as shown, you will get a model that seems to work well, but I suspect that there is a better arrangement of pieces. I have seen references to move forms in the Japanese book "Geometric Art" by Caspar Schwabe and Atsuhiko Ishiguro, but I do not have access to it. If you know of an English language source that I can use to find more information about move forms, I would appreciate it if you let me know about it.
  

Links

• I used this website as my only source for this project. I have had a hard time tracking down any other information on move forms.