Origami - Science Emulating Art that emulates Nature

In this Video Robert Lang explores the link between art and practical applications at the intersection of origami and mathematics. "The secret to productivity is letting dead people do your work for you."

Robert Lang is a pioneer of the newest kind of origami -- using math and engineering principles to fold mind-blowingly intricate designs that are beautiful and, sometimes, very useful.

Robert Lang merges mathematics with aesthetics to fold elegant modern origami. His scientific approach helps him make folds once thought impossible -- and has secured his place as one of the first great Western masters of the art.

What do you think of his presentation? what part of his work do you consider innovative? Extrapolate your answer in no less than 2 paragraphs in the comment section

This comment counts towards your participation grades

Origami and Math - Activity

People who spend time folding paper often ask themselves questions that are ultimately mathematical in nature. Is there a simpler procedure for folding a certain figure? Where on the original square paper do the wings of a crane come from? Why do so many origami figures start with square paper? What size paper should I use to make a chair to sit at the origami table I already made? What words should I use to teach people to make a jumping frog? Is it possible to make an origami beetle that has six legs and two antennae from a single square sheet of paper? Is there a precise procedure for folding a paper into 5 rectangular strips? Which polyhedra can be constructed using Sonobe modules and what do they have in common?


In this activity we will do a panda, noticing the divisions and symmetry processes in its folding.


As usual, when finished take a picture of your origami figure and your name and post them on the comment area


This activity counts for 10% of your total grade

Origami and Math

I know most of us aren't mathematicians, but if you are interested in the math behind the most complex figures in origami, such as tesselations and modular origami, here is an essay from the math department of washington university:

http://www.math.washington.edu/~morrow/336_09/papers/Sheri.pdf

If you have a square piece of paper, how many ways can you fold it to make 2 sections of the same size?

A square folds in half to make 2 rectangles. A square folds in half to make 2 triangles too. Are the rectangles and triangles the same size? This type of question can help children understand the relationship between squares, rectangles and triangles.

What happens when you unfold an origami model? Can you see the symmetry in the crease patterns? Manipulating paper with their hands may help children learn concepts that may otherwise be rather abstract.


Use the comments section to express your perspective about math and origami, this will count towards your final grades so don't make short answers

Unit 1 Test

Here is the link to your first test. Please answer carefully and post your score in the comments section.

Unit 1 Grader
Please choose the correct answer, at the end of your test, send it to anon12589@gmail.com, thank you.

Origami resembles what two arts according to Hatori Koshiro? . Cooking and painting . Painting and theatre . Cooking and theatre What is most important in this class? . Making the origami figures . having fun . Reading your assignments What Should you avoid when doing Origami? . Cutting . Gluing . Drawing the folds . All of the above . A&B Who was the first country to have knowledge of origami? . China . Japan . Korea Other than psychologically and culturally, in which other way does origami have an effect in our lives? . Mentally . Biologically . Mathematically . Socially Into what shape did the small square in the short story did not turn into? . Wardrobe . Butterfly . Mirror . Witch . Cat To what European country did the Moors introduce origami to? . Arabs . Spain . France . British What animal is used to represent the peace movements? . Dove . Crane . Monkey . Pigeon

Highlights in Origami History Activity

As a complement to your previous reading, your homework is to build your first ever (at least in this class) origami figure, a Samurai Helmet!

If you don't have a square paper to do it, please watch the video on how to make one and proceed.

for your evaluation process, you will be required to post a picture of your finished work along with your name written on or next to the origami figure.

Do not take separate pictures of your figure and your name
Your name must be handwritten
the paper must not be all white (some small decoration or colored paper/newspaper/special paper will suffice)

Highlights In Origami History

100 AD

Paper-making originated in China by Ts'ai Lun, a servant of the Chinese emperor. The art of paperfolding began shortly after.

600 AD 

Paper-making spread to Japan where origami really took off.

800-1100AD

Origami was introduced to the West (Spain) by the Moors who made geometric origami models.

1797     

Hiden Senbazuru Orikata is the oldest origami book for amusement in the world is published. Translated it means "The Secret of One Thousand Cranes Origami".

1845     

Kan no mado (Window on Midwinter)-The first published collection of origami models which included the frog base

1900     

Origami spread to England and the United States

1935     

Akira Yoshizawa developed his set of symbols used for origami instructions.

1960     

Sadako and One Thousand Cranes was published by Eleanor Coerr and is linked with the origami crane and the international peace movement.

2000         

International Peace Project-An international project which is engaging communities in collaborative activities to promote peace, non-violence and tolerance - A Million Paper Cranes for Peace by the Year 2000!

Origami For Everyone - A Short Story

This is a story about a square, and the folds in basic origami, read the story along with your square of paper and try doing all the folds along




The Square Story

a) There was once a small square
b)He was very sad because no one wanted to play with him.
"Waa", he cried, "if I was as skinny as my brother the rectangle, or as round as the circle, or if I had corners as beautiful as the ones my sister the triangle has… But I am nothing special, all of my corners are the same, long and boring."
Then he picked up a… a very interesting book and read this story.

c) Once upon a time there was a little witch that would sleep all day and fly all night on her broom through the dark starry sky. It was so cold to the point where she would start sneezing until she got sick. It was then that she looked for a... handkerchief and cleaned her nose.

d) After seeing her sneeze, her mom said: You won't be able to fly your broom at night anymore. Instead, bring your... boat and do a small trip. The sea breeze will make you feel much better.

e) Obediently, the little witch took her boat and traveled along all the seas until she discovered a beautiful beach a... witches' house. 

f) "I want to stay here", thought the little witch as she wrote her mom a... letter.

g) " Mom, you must come visit me. My witch house is so pretty and I have an excellent view from my... window."

h) After reading the letter, her mom went to her... wardrobe.

i) Here she looked for a beautiful red polka dot...handkerchief. 

i) "This is exactly the one I was looking for", she thought. "The handkerchief will hold my hair in place." She tried it in front of her old... mirror. 

k) The witch was hungry and before taking her broom to go visit the little witch, she decided to fry a delicious...fish. 

l) For desert, she looked for a chocolate bar. 

m) After this, she prepared her large... purse. 

n) As she mounted on her broom, she remembered. "Oh, I'm forgetting something." she said as she returned to her house to find a... magic bag.

0) She got on her broom and traveled above the seas of the world until she finally found the little witch that played in the beach meanwhile she observed a colorful... butterfly. 

p) "What is this horrible creature?", said the mom. She pulled out her magic wand and transformed the butterfly unto a fat and ugly... toad. 

q) "Please don't do it", said the little witch. I liked the pretty butterfly. "Well, I liked this toad even more", said the mom. Luckily while this occurred, another butterfly fleeted along and both felt happy once again. They lived and felt happy until the day they died. 
Our little square closed the book as he rubbed his eyes. Was I dreaming or was I awake? Can it be possible that all those things can be made when folding a simple square? Then that means that all these shapes are inside of me: a book, a handkerchief, a boat, a house, a letter, a window, a wardrobe, a handkerchief to hold your hair, a mirror, a fish, a chocolate, a magic bag, a butterfly and a toad. 
"Now I believe that I can find children that would want to fold all those shapes with me. Now I won't be bored." And due to all this joy and enthusiasm, the small square turned bright red.

Now its time for you to write your thoughts in the comments section: Did you like the story? what figure was your favorite? Did you try all the folds?

Origami Basics: Square Paper

Since some of your exercises will involve making origami figures (don't you worry, they are strategically chosen to be simple enough for every student) we need square origami paper.


Granted, Since we are in an era of ecology and cost-reduction, I will provide you with and instructive video to make square paper from random paper you have at hand. Not only it will be ecological, it will give you a chance to experiment with different patterns and type of paper (please refrain from using napkins or any kind of absorbent paper).

Ancient Art

A folk art, a creative art, a mathematical puzzle, a game-- all of these terms describe origami. Some people are attracted to origami for its simplicity, while others marvel at the minds of people who can devise the patterns for such ingenious creations. Some look to origami as a way to entertain, while others find it has a calming, relaxing effect.

Origami is unique among paper crafts in that it requires no materials other than the paper itself. Cutting, gluing, or drawing on the paper is avoided, using only paper folding to create the desired result. No special skills or artistic talent are needed for origami, although a good amount of patience and perseverance are very helpful. 


Models can be folded by following instructions exactly. Experimenting with different folds may lead to a totally new, original paper-fold.


The word "origami" comes from the Japanese language. "Ori" means folded and "kami" means paper. Paper-folding as a traditional folding art pervaded the Japanese culture more strongly than any other. But traditional paper-folding did not exist in Japan alone.


Papermaking was developed in China two thousand years ago but the Chinese did not readily share this knowledge. It eventually traveled to Korea and then Japan by the seventh century. This "trade secret" then spread in the direction of the Arab world, reaching Spain by the twelfth century.


Origami was first practiced in the Japanese imperial Court, where it was considered an amusing and elegant way of passing the time. Over the centuries the skill has been passed down to ordinary people, who took it up with enthusiasm and made it into the folk art that it is today.

Today in Japan the art of paper-folding is as widely practiced by children, parents and grandparents as it was centuries ago. And for a number of years now origami has been immensely popular here in the western world.

During this journey, did simple paper-folding spread with the knowledge of papermaking? Or did each country independently discover that paper could not only be written and drawn on, but manipulated into forms? Despite the fact that some traditional models from different paper-folding traditions are similar, most people believe that each tradition developed its own paper-folding ideas.


In the course of this class we will both travel alongside the pages of history, science and culture, acquiring knowledge of how Origami affects into the human existence, having a biological, psychological and cultural effect on us.


Have you practiced other types of paper craft or even Origami before? what was your first experience? Post your answer on the comments section below. This counts toward your participation grade

Your Student Duty

This course will be divided into three units each covering a different aspect of culture with regards to origami. The course itself will last only 8 weeks and the break-down goes as follows:


Basics of Origami Knowledge- March 5th trough March 16th - 2 weeks
Sciences Around Origami- March 19th through March 30th -  2 weeks
Education and Culture Within Origami- April 2nd through April 13th - 2 weeks


Your responsibilities as a student for this course are as follows:


-Read each section on time and submit your homeworks to the page before the due date each week.
-Every Friday, a homework assignment will be due. No late work will be accepted.


Why is it autoadministrative? You can manage your time as you like, with posts being put in the first days of the week and the deliver date being the friday. You are able to choose wich day to read and do your exercises, but don't leave it all to friday! Some of your projects take time to be finished. You wont need the professor to be phisically with you, but of course if you have doubts you can contact him. Also, the tests are automatized, so as soon as you submit your answers, your score will be given to you. 


      Your homework includes 4 major components and a percentage of your grade.

• Comments (15%)
• Origami models (3 at 10% each)
• Tests- (2 at 15% each) 
• Final (non-cumulative 25%)

It is your duty to keep up with the class in terms of reading, understanding, participating and applying your knowledge for every activity whether it is posting comments, constructing origami models or taking the tests.
Your grade is in your hands.


Let the semester begin and may the odds be ever in your favor.

Most importantly, have fun :)

Bibliography

http://www.otaku-damned.com/t279-el-origami

http://origametria.blogspot.mx/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadako_Sasaki The History of Sadako

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhd30tDCsNI Sadako's Story (Video)

http://www.theragami.com/origami_ed.html

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origami

http://www.oriland.com/oriversity/benefits/articles.asp?category=articles&model=03_full&name=Folding%20-%20Method Origami method for bilateral development

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD9JALM9Z48 Origami Crane Video

Kindergarten, Colegio Humboldt, Die Geschichte vom Quadrat. San José, Costa Rica 1997. –The Square Story (GERMAN, fragment)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRIvCe6nqJo Origami Festival CSULB

http://www.pixel77.com/35-origami-inspired-fashion-designs/ Origami and Fashion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadako_and_the_Thousand_Paper_Cranes Sadako and the thousand paper Cranes

http://www.pixel77.com/35-origami-inspired-fashion-designs/ Origami meets Fashion

http://www.math.washington.edu/~morrow/336_09/papers/Sheri.pdf Origami and Math

http://rosella.apana.org.au/~mlb/cranes/million.htm IPP- International Peace Project

Introduction

Origami is an art of paperfolding. You can fold sheets of paper into ships, animals, or flowers. It's a lot of fun, especially for children. I think, however, origami is more than model-making. In my opinion, origami is bringing out, through folding, the nature of paper which the pieces of paper concealed before folded.

The paper itself has some charm since it is made by someone with sincerity. So you should not spoil it when you fold. In addition, if you cannot draw more charm from the sheet of paper by folding, there will be no sense in folding it. Origami resembles cooking in this respect. As you should make the most of the nature of food in cooking, you should make the most of the nature of paper in origami. And as the finest cuisine can be a moving fine art, origami can.

You can make many complex models, such as a six-legged and four-winged beetle, with a sheet of square paper. But remember all the shapes are prepared in it. No one can elicit what the piece of paper doesn't embrace. Origami resembles the theater in this respect. Scriptwriters in the theater are equivalent to designers in origami, actors to sheets of paper, and directors to folders. While you make the paper into the shape you want, you should consider into what shape the paper wants to be.

-Hatori Koshiro