Laser Cut Paper Eiffel Tower: Revisited

The final version of our Eiffel tower project. Composed of four copies each of four different parts laser cut from a single 18×24 sheet of Plike 122# Bordeaux Cover paper, it stands about 22″ tall and is assembled without tape, glue or fasteners.

Although people rarely noticed, Michael was never happy with the original version because it lacked the observation decks. In the process of adding those, his perfectionist tendencies kicked in and added some additional detail to the piece as well, specifically around the bottom arch. He also found a way to add some tabs to the very top so it curves in. The notches along the sides were reduced in size so they are less noticeable at the larger size we scaled it to since the original. And in the original version, the legs had a tendency to splay so the tabs there were reworked to keep them tightly together.

The observation decks are made of 4 identical pieces each that fit together with slots. Several folds were scored by the laser and when made, create a square ring that supports the deck at the proper height on the tower. We experimented with various fold-out tabs to support it and found this was ultimately the best way. the downside is that it’s a good deal more challenging to assemble now – definitely no longer a beginners piece. It’s still pretty durable, though the two large decks are mainly held in place by gravity so it’s not as forgiving as the original to excessive handling.

We currently have one on display in a local gallery, and are exploring the possibility of offering them for sale. We’re considering offering the fully detailed one shown here if we can figure out how it can be shipped assembled, and probably a simplified one based on our original for people who want to assemble it themselves.