- British artist, Owen Gildersleeve, creates life-size Origami replica of Nissan Juke
- Unique paper sculpture uses 2,000 folded pieces of paper and took 200 hours to make
- The sculpture celebrates the fifth anniversary of the Juke, which is Nissan’s second best-selling model in Europe with over 700,000 sold since launch
- Video showing the Origami Juke launched at: https://youtu.be/a5IUJ_DcTXk
They say the best ideas start with just a blank piece of paper.
Celebrating the model’s 5th anniversary – and its market-leading sales of over 700,000 – Nissan and a British paper artist have collaborated on a unique project to create a full-scale Origami Juke.
In a nod to Nissan’s Japanese heritage and inspired by the very first steps of car design – getting ideas onto paper – artist Owen Gildersleeve hand built the intricate replica model from paper to the exact dimensions of the current Juke.
Owen took more than 200 hours and folded more than 2,000 pieces of paper to create the detailed sculpture.
The Origami Juke features the same bold design cues – such as the wheel fenders, lights and grille – that give the real-life model its distinctive character.
Artist Owen Gildersleeve said: “This was a great project to work on – hard work but very rewarding. As a celebration piece it draws on so many influences, such as the origami focus inspired by Nissan’s Japanese roots. Using so many individual pieces of paper to create the overall structure also represents the thousands of people who helped bring the Nissan Juke into reality and the thousands who continue to do so right here in the UK.”
The Nissan Juke’s bold, standout styling has been a key factor in the model’s success. Nissan created a brand new ‘compact crossover’ sector with the launch of the car, offering motorists something completely different, in terms of design, to any other vehicle on the road.
The Juke, which is built in Nissan’s plant in Sunderland, reaches its fifth birthday this year. Since first deliveries began in October 2010, more than 150,000 Juke models have been sold in the UK alone, with over 700,000 total sales across Europe, making it the continent’s best-selling compact crossover.
The Juke’s longer-term future in Britain was recently secured when Nissan confirmed that the Sunderland plant would produce the next-generation Juke benefiting from a further £100 million investment in the Sunderland facility and securing the plant into 2020.
Darryl Scriven, Design Manager at Nissan’s Design Centre for Europe, said: “The first step of any car design involves putting pencil to paper. From that simple start, it’s a complex journey to production involving hundreds of skilled people, thousands of man-hours and millions in investment. So we think it’s very apt that on its fifth birthday, we celebrate the Nissan Juke with a tribute that harks back to that simple, but bold, first step, all carried out with Nissan’s signature innovation and excitement of course.”
The Origami Juke is revealed as ‘World Origami Days’ are celebrated across the world between 24th October and 11th November.
See more of Nissan’s origami Juke by viewing:
QA with Matthew Weaver, Project Lead Designer for Nissan Juke at launch
How does it feel to see Juke 5 years on from the launch and still going strong?
Great! It was refreshing to conceive such a bold design, and equally satisfying to see it remaining one of the most daring and exciting cars on the road. With that you might think it was the reserve of a few but it’s great to see many people really enjoying the car.
From a design perspective, what do you think has made Juke such a success?
The Juke is iconic, it does not simply rely on graphical elements, its DNA is of a special type. By this it could be said that the Juke is recognisable from half a mile away. In a world of hum drum the Juke adds a splash of colour.
What are the three key styling cues which make Juke unlike any other car on the road?
Undeniably the front light graphics are so strong that it gave the Juke a very plucky attitude. Then the cabin design with its sloping roof and tight window graphics hinting at our high performance products like the GTR. Overall though I think it’s the car’s mass and volumes that set it apart. It’s generous to the point of over protecting its occupants yet nimble enough to project its sporty drive.
What inspired the name ‘Juke’?
To Juke is to dodge and outwit; seems to fit the car!
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