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