Origami (おりがみ) is a Japanese term which refers to the art of
paper folding.
The objective of the art is to fold pieces of paper into pretty decorative objects that represent birds, flowers, animals, etc.,
or useful objects such as boxes, cups, chopstick supports, etc.
Despite the Japanese term, the art is not indigenous nor unique to Japan.
It is said that the art-form originated in China, not surprisingly
since that is where paper was invented circa the 2nd century BCE.
The art propagated both east (toward Japan) and west (toward Europe)
together with the technology of paper-making.
It made its way all the way to Spain, the westernmost country in Europe,
where it is called papiroflexia.
Today, it is practiced all over the world, with professional Origami Artists
creating amazing new folds.
Origami techniques have been applied to various technologies in engineering
and medicine.
A new field of mathematics which studies the geometry of Origami
has also been created.
Physicist and world famous origami artist Robert J. Lang gives
a class and public lecture on Origami at Virginia Tech, November 2011.
In this series of classes, I will demonstrate how to fold various traditional Japanese folds as well as some more modern creations.
I will emphasize the importance of mastering a few "Base Folds" from which a miriad of variations can be created.
I encourage you to try to create your own folds by tweaking the ones I will
show you.
After all, what fun is there in just following instructions?
Examples of folds that can be made from the "Carp" base:
Carp (a kind of fish), Narwhal, Sea Lion, Sea Horse, HenExamples of folds that can be made from the "Butterfly" base:
Butterfly, Fish, Bat, Blue Whale, Sperm WhaleExamples of folds that can be made from the "Crane" base:
(Left) Crane, Sea Turtle, Dinosaur, Skunk, Doggy, Rabbit, Mouse (with Disney ears), Dolphin; (Right) PterosaurExamples of folds that can be made from the "Frog" base:
(Left) Frog, Iris (a kind of flower), Rocket Ship, Jet Figher Plane, Ray Gun;
(Right) X-wing FighterExamples of folds that can be made from the "Crane-Frog Hybrid" base:
Mouse, Cat, Dog, Apatosaurus, Elasmosaurus
Disclaimer: The "modern" folds I will show you
were cooked up by myself, but they may closely resemble creations by various Origami Artists around the world.
I may not give proper credit to those artists because
1) I'm not aware of any database where I can look up this information, and
2) I will only be showing simple (by professional standards) folds that many
people could easily come up with independently.
Toward the end of the series, I will also show you how to fold "Modular" Origami, that is, origami folded into linkable units,
which can be linked together into colorful creations.
Examples of Modular Origami.
The ball on the left is made from 12 origami units linked together,
while the one on the right is made from 30 units.
If you have any questions, suggestions, or requests, please email me at
takeuchi at vt dot edu.
