Continuing the modular bent, I had bookmarked this fold in my collection of Tanteidan magazines as a “must try”:
This is Jun Maekawa’s “Spikey Cube” – a 6 part modular that only holds itself together when the last part is slotted in place. The locking mechanism is difficult to master initially, and seemingly different each corner. Continue reading
Now I am as much a Star Trek fan as the next one, and love a comedy sidekick movie plot device. It was interesting that the Star Wars franchise returned to the tried and true “quirky beeping droid” sidekick in “Force Awakens” and the BB8 droid seems a cute successor to the more limited R2 units (that they decided could fly in later/earlier messes of movies):
This is Martin Hunt’s Modular BB8 droid model. A torturous fold of many parts.
4 different modules combine to make a roughly spherical ball with a “head” that can be affixed wherever you want, sort of captured the overall morphology of the droid. Continue reading
Tomorrow in Oz the next chapter of the Star Wars saga opens in cinemas. I am not likely to see it until the crush of “real fans” abates but thought on the eve I would fold something relevant:
This I have labelled “Deathstar” because it bears an uncanny resemblance to the space station the Liberator encountered just out from Far Point, while captain Mal and his rag tag band of cylons, and their computer Aurac, cruised the belt looking for replicants (how many scifi franchises are hinted at here? :P). Continue reading
I have folded a number of axis-type geometric modulars in my time:
This is Nick Robinson’s XYZmbe, a 6 part model that shows the intersections of the X, Y and Z planes with a curious twirly intersection. Continue reading
Life is a delicate balance, kind of like being on a tightrope way above the ground in the bigtop. Balance is important, lots of things effect balance:
Work, life, play, people, things that all take their toll on our balance, and we all struggle to walk the line sometimes, tipping this way and that as various forces pull at us. Continue reading
I like a model that is a simple variation of the waterbomb and this is such a thing:
Pre-creasing before locking together creates the facets when the solid is inflated. Continue reading
Apparently there is a lolly in Holland called “Drop” – it is most likely a salted licorice, must look that up. This box is designed to gift “drop” to friends:
When I first saw the model I was sure it was a bomb … I mean, look at it! Continue reading
David Huffman is a bit of an origami enigma it seems – he pioneered a bunch of tessellations and surface corrugations and seems to be one of the first to explore curved creases and their bizarre effects on flat sheets:
This is is “Arches” tessellation, an intriguing offset brick valley folded grid that then has parabolic mountain folds at each intersection. The resultant sheet is really hard to tidily collapse (in my experience) – perhaps it was the paper or the scoring technique I used to form the parabolas, or perhaps it was the parabola itself – with no guidelines I just sort of guessed a curve.
You get a sort of waterbomb base forcing one trough deep into the arch of an adjacent fold – when it is tidied up it is fascinating – I could see uses for this as an interesting textural pattern or ambient light panel as it makes funky patterns when backlit. Continue reading
This charming 6-piece modular cube is designed by Francesco Mancini and is included in his booklet “Mancinerie”, which I think I purchased from the BOS shop online:
Each face is a twisted square. Folded from A5 sheets, the pre-creasing is pretty easy and the twist is satisfying. Continue reading
Paper fractals are fascinating self-repeating/reducing designs that are relatively new in the origami world:
This 2nd-level “Octospiral” is a model I saw in one of my last BOS journals before my membership lapsed. Designed and modified by Roman Diaz, Endre Somos and Meenakshi Mukerji, it is a delightfully dense spiral that, theoretically, could keep reducing inside itself indefinitely. Continue reading
In topology, a branch of mathematics, the trefoil knot is the simplest example of a nontrivial knot:
This is Kevin Hutson’s design, well CP really, that I sort of just nutted out after mis-folding it 4 times and uttering some bad words (sorry Mum). The observant amongst you will notice that it starts and finishes at the same point – like a mobiius strip on acid. Continue reading
…then my wife casually asked if I could line some cake tins:
A simple fold, unequalled as a way of protecting a fruit cake from extended baking – the outer layer is 35cm square kraft paper, inner is 25cm greaseproof paper, they fit snugly in the tins. Later they will protect the maturing cake as it regularly bathes in rum. Continue reading
Exam invigilation is one of the most boring things that exists, when possible I fold repetitive things during them (thus allowing me to be vigilant and productive):
This is a 30-piece modular ball made from Ekaterina Lakasheva’s “Nymph” module – simple tab and pocket creations folded from 7.5cm squares. Continue reading
…yes, I know, a day late but, meh! Always on the look out for fascinating geometry, I had put this 6-part Rhombicuboctahedron, designed by David Mitchell, in my “fold this when you get a moment” pile:
6 relatively simple modules interlock to make a fascinating ball-like structure but the devil is in the details. Continue reading
I always find it remarkable that with relatively few folds, we can hint at a shape so familiar that our minds go nuts and full in the visual context:
This is Roman Diaz’s “Casa Illusione”, a faux 3D dwelling that nicely plays with light, angle, perspective and proportion.
I chose to fold it white (Casa Blanca) with a terracotta roof, and imagine it perched on some Tuscan hillside, awaiting my return after a hard day wining and dining at some cantina.
