Flexible wood walls make for flat alterations without the rubble. Strong adhesive tape, on the other hand, can cause scrapes and surface tears once it’s removed.
All that could soon be a thing of the past, however, thanks to an innovative American research team.
The key is kirigami, an ancient Japanese art of cutting folded paper, where flat sheets can be transformed into flowers or stars.
The team discovered that by applying rows of U-shaped cuts in the adhesive layer, the strength of the tape’s bond could be increased by a factor of 60.
Removal is pain-free – if peeled starting from the closed side of the U-shaped cuts.
The origami principle has its disciples in other fields as well.