- Also called:
- paper folding
- Related Topics:
- flexagon
origami
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What is origami?
Origami is the art of folding paper to create two and three-dimensional objects. The word origami comes from the Japanese words oru (āto foldā) and kami (āpaperā).
Origami has many styles, including realistic, minimal, modular, composite, practical, pureland, tessellations, wet folding, and crumpled.
Although many believe origami started in Japan around a thousand years ago, its roots may be in China. Evidence shows paper folding was well-ingrained in Japanese culture by 1680.
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Where did origami come from?
Origami, the art of folding paper to create two and three-dimensional objects, likely originated in China, where paper was invented. Skills in papermaking then migrated to Korea, and then to Japan around 610 CE via Buddhist monks.
Though there's no hard evidence of origami's existence before 1600, a poem from 1680 references butterfly origami, which indicates that paper folding was well established in Japanese culture at that time. One of the earliest known instruction books on the topic was Akisato Ritoās Sembazuru orikata (1797), which demonstrated how to fold linked cranes from a square sheet of paper. Today, the word origami comes from the Japanese oru (āto foldā) and kami (āpaperā).
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What materials are used in origami?
Origami is the art of folding objects out of paper to create two and three-dimensional subjects. Paper is the ideal material for origami.
Akira Yoshizawa invented the wet folding technique, which involves dampening paper containing a water-soluble glue before folding, allowing the paper to be folded into soft curves that harden as the paper dries. Paul Jackson created the crumpled technique, which Vincent Floderer developed further. This technique involves crumpling the paper before folding and can produce highly realistic organic forms.
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What are some basic folds or techniques in origami?
Origami has many styles, including realistic, minimal, modular, composite, practical, pureland, tessellations, wet folding, and crumpled.
Pureland origami uses only square paper and mountain and valley folds, resulting in models that are easy to duplicate. Wet folding, invented by Akira Yoshizawa, involves dampening the paper before folding to create soft curves that harden as the paper dries. Crumpled origami, created by Paul Jackson and developed by Vincent Floderer, involves crumpling the paper before folding to produce highly realistic organic forms.
German educator Friedrich Frƶbel, inventor of the kindergarten, was an avid proponent of paper folding. Three basic types of folds are associated with him: the Folds of Life, the Folds of Truth, and the Folds of Beauty.
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How can origami be used to create different shapes or figures?
Origami uses folding techniques to create various shapes and figures. Different styles allow for diverse artistic expression.
- Minimal origami captures a subject's essence through simplicity, while realistic origami focuses on detailed representation.
- Modular origami uses multiple identical geometric units to form complex shapes, whereas composite origami uses multiple sheets of paper, each folded differently, to create different parts of the subject.
- Tessellations employ geometric folding to create patterns through folded edges, and crumpled origami involves crumpling the paper before folding to produce organic forms.
- Wet folding, a technique where paper is dampened, allows for soft curves that harden as the paper dries.
These styles demonstrate how origami can be used to achieve a wide array of artistic creations.
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How has origami influenced art, science, or technology today?
Origami, the art of folding paper to create two and three-dimensional subjects, has various styles, such as realistic, minimal, modular, and practical. After World War II, interest in origami increased in North America. The work of Akira Yoshizawa, considered the preeminent folder of his time, inspired subsequent generations. Lillian Oppenheimer helped popularize the word origami, founding the Origami Center of America in 1958. Today, origami societies exist worldwide, with the Japan Origami Academic Society being a conduit for innovative constructions.
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origami, art of folding objects out of paper to create both two-dimensional and three-dimensional subjects. The word origami (from Japanese oru [āto foldā] and kami [āpaperā]) has become the generic description of this art form, although some European historians feel it places undue weight on the Japanese origins of an art that may well have developed independently around the world.
Basics
While cutting was traditionally a part of origami, most modern practitionersāoften called āfoldersāāeschew cutting (although it continues to be used in the Rokoan style of connected cranes). Most origami is folded from square paper and from a single sheet. However, rectangles and other nonsquare sheets may also be used, and the composite and modular styles of origami use multiple sheets (even hundreds of sheets may be used in a single artwork).
Making models from paper can require very few resources and take mere minutes (or even seconds) to execute. Complex designs, on the other hand, can take hours to complete. Some folders prefer almost cartoonlike renderings of their subjects, utilizing simple folding sequences, while others strive for highly accurate representations, requiring advanced techniques. The use of diagramming signs, symbols, and arrows allows for the folding sequences to be accurately described and thereby duplicated, meaning this art form can be learned independent of language.
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Folders generally do not compete with each other except in terms of achieving new heights of creativity. Creative competitions involve varying degrees of competitiveness. Enthusiasts usually share their work freely, although the time involved in creating diagrams for each creation means that folders can easily amass large backlogs of un-diagrammed work. In light of the commercial use of origami, copyright law has been exercised to protect the rights of creators.
Styles
Origami, like other art forms, has many styles. The more common ones include:
1. Realistic: Creations that exhibit the main features of the subject, often resulting in complex designs with many steps.
2. Minimal: Creations that capture the essence of the subject with minimal folds and with an emphasis on simplicity.
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3. Modular: Multiple geometric "units" made from multiple sheets of paper whose flaps and pockets tuck into each other to form polygons or polyhedra. Typically, all sheets are folded in the same way or in a small number of ways.
4. Composite: As with modular origami, multiple sheets of paper are used, but in this style each sheet is folded differently to realize a different part of the subject. Composite origami was one of the most common styles in the 1950s and ā60s but is relatively uncommon today.
5. Practical: Models that have a real-life application, such as for use as envelopes, boxes, cups, dishes, etc.
6. Pureland: A concept suggested by John Smith of England, who proposed a composition system using only square paper and āmountainā and āvalleyā folds, resulting in models that are easy to duplicate.
7. Tessellations: A geometric folding technique in which the image is created by the pattern of folded edges across the paper. Tessellations are often periodic (repeating) and may be flat or three-dimensional, and many of them exhibit further structure when held up to the light. Not surprisingly, many of the leading practitioners of this technique have been mathematicians.
8. Wet folding: A technique invented by Akira Yoshizawa in which the paper contains a water-soluble glue (known as sizing) and is dampened slightly before folding. The dampness permits the paper to be folded into soft curves, which then harden in durability as the paper dries.
9. Crumpled: A technique created by Paul Jackson and developed by Vincent Floderer that involves the crumpling of the paper before folding. This technique can produce highly realistic organic forms.