Giant digital origami tigers in Sydney

Giant digital origami tigers celebrate Chinese New Year at Customs House, Sydney

Two giant digital origami tigers will playfully celebrate Chinese New Year on the forecourt of Customs House, Sydney from 11 February – 14 March 2010.


Giant digital origami tigers fuse ancient lantern making methods with cutting edge design and fabrication technology, bringing tradition and innovation, east and west together.

Commissioned by Customs House to raise awareness about the endangered status of tigers in this the Year of the Tiger, the crouching tigers were designed by multinational architectural practice LAVA.

The crouching tigers are inspired by “zhezhi”, Chinese for paper folding (more popularly known by its Japanese name “origami”) and are the size of a truck at 2.5 metres high and 7 metres long, yet weigh only 200kgs.

Made of fully recyclable materials, aluminium and barrisol, the big cats are brought to life with low energy LED lighting.