Leafing through my copy of Drawing Origami Tome 2, I noticed a spectacular modular designed by Francesco Mancini that I knew I had to try:
Modules folded from 2×1 rectangles lock together really nicely, creating clusters of 3 and 5, forcing the megastructure to curve gently into a spikey ball. Continue reading
For some reason the republic of Australia still has ties to a monarchy that is completely irrelevant to us but somehow, ultimately, still controls aspects of our government:
I decided to celebrate the public holiday (yay, I accept the holiday, just reject the reason) by folding a crown. Continue reading
Being a bit of a closet Biology nerd, when you see a design that combines love of folding with something biologically interesting you jump at the chance to fold it:
This modular is made up of a bunch of bent arrow-shaped modules that slip together in 2 strands that then, rather satisfyingly, intertwine in much the same way as worms do when they are mating. Continue reading
Having recently realised I had forgotten to re-subscribe to JOAS, I hurriedly did so then went on holidays, fully expecting the back-issues of Tanteidan to not arrive for weeks:
Due to the miracles of Australia post (or was that Japanese post and a courier?) they arrived while I was away, fortunately kept dry in my mailbox. Continue reading
I am constantly amazed by the variety of techniques on display in Jun Maekawa’s designs, and this cube is no different:
Based, in principle at least, on an acute windmill base, folded asymmetrically, it locks into a geometry that confuses the eye. Continue reading
…in my beautiful balloon:
This is an 18 section balloon made from 6 modules that overlap and interleave, edge locks that secure the geometry, no glue, no cuts etc. I can see it decorating a small kid’s bedroom, surrounded by planes and rocket ships. Who wants it? Continue reading
Time is scarce but this was folded while kids were doing a really hard test, figured I should try something hard also:
This is a level 6 fractal fold of the previously folded Shuzo Fujimoto Hydrangea, and a beauty to behold. Continue reading
The principle of Yin and Yang is a fundamental concept in Chinese philosophy and culture in general dating from the third century BCE or even earlier. This principle is that all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites, for example female-male, dark-light and old-young:
Right now I am trying to balance rest with exhaustion due to a punishing marking schedule. The Yang is winning over the Yin at the moment. Continue reading
So when invigilating, you cannot mark or do anything that productively uses the time, so sometimes I choose a simple but repetitive fold that I can do without looking anywhere but in the direction of students being examined:
This is Michal Kosmulski’s “Oxi” module – an interesting variation of Tom Hull’s “Phiz” unit. Continue reading
Looking for today’s fold, I returned to a collection of bookmarked models from my growing collection of Tanteidan magazines:
Made of 4 tetrahedral modules, each with deep tabs along a pair of adjacent sides, you then fold a pair of interlocking preliminary bases as the core. Continue reading
Speaking of fractals, as I was (well, kinda sorta) I realised I had never tried the Fujimoto Hydrangea fold before:
This is an interesting thing, with each iteration folded inside the previous – in theory you can keep folding this infinitely. In reality the tryanny of paper thickness and fat clumsy fingers stops you. Continue reading
Browsing a MiniNeo eZine that I follow, I noticed a rather interesting looking hexagonal flower and thought it worth a try:
You triangle grid a hexagon into 16ths, then put a hex twist in the middle, then add the swing-back on petals and tidy up the tessellation to make a swirl. Continue reading
Asked by a colleague whether I still do rose folding commissions, I lied and said “sure”, realising this was the opportunity to learn something new:
Working my way through Naomiki Sato’s book “Rose”, I had never tried his “Simple Rose” until this point. Continue reading
A Masu (or box) was traditionally square and used to measure rice in Japanese kitchens. These days, masu are typically used to sip Sake out of:
Having mastered David Brill’s Square Masu, I thought it time to try the pentagonal one. Apparently the pentagonal masu exists only in Origami circles – this makes sense as the woodworking skill necessary to make this in timber breaks my brain.
Page division into 6ths (to allow overlap/join) then gentle faceting and a magic corner hinge joint results in a lovely 3d shape that feels like it has volume.
I used thickish paper and found some of the internal collapses tough work to make them behave and sit tidily but overall it is a fin fold because you really have to think through how it works before trying the collapse.
I quite like the apparent simplicity of this design:
Folded from a square split on the 1/3 line, larger piece making the base, smaller for the lid, this ingenious design neatly makes a moneybox, coin slot and all. Continue reading
