Origami


Origami is the art of folding a single piece of paper into objects. Literally it means "the art of folding paper", deriving from oru (fold) and kami (paper) Different things can be made out of paper.

No matter how intricate the final design, origami adheres to its original concept that the product must be achieved exclusively by folding paper (no glue, tape, staples, scissors, or other auxiliary aids).

History

It is very difficult to try to determine the history of origami since not even the experts can agree on what or where it was. While most people think of Origami as being a strictly Japanese art form, many say it actually has it's roots in China going all the way back to the first or second century. Back in those early days paper was so rare and expensive that origami was a pastime reserved for the wealthy. Certain set shapes were fashioned from folded paper for special occasions like weddings, while serrated strips of white paper were used to adorn sacred objects in the shrines, a practice that continues to this day. There wasn’t a lot of origami just as an art form at that time.

In Japan from the early 1600's through the late 1800's, several forms of entertainment were developed for the common people; origami, now as an art form was one of those entertainments. The popularity of origami was due in part to its simplicity and the fact that there was no need for special tools. The popularity of origami continued to grow through about the middle of the 19th century then, except for ceremonial usage it's popularity started to decline during the modernization of Japan.

It has been argued by some people that since paper was invented in China in105AD that logically paper folding must have followed shortly after. On the other hand, since there are no known records of Chinese paper folding and the oldest Japanese records only go back to the 18th century some still believe that the invention must have been Japanese.

Buddhist monks brought paper with them to Japan in the late 6th century along with the art of paper folding. Although paper was very expensive it was still used quite extensively in Japan especially in its architecture with paper screens, doors etc. The Shinto religion incorporated the use of origami in its ceremonies and these shapes have remained unchanged for centuries.

Although the experts can't agree on where origami originated, most of them agree that the Japanese are the ones who developed the traditional art form. This art form was passed down from generation to generation with nothing in writing. Due to all information being passed on orally, only the simplest designs were passed on. Around the year1797 the first written instructions appeared. The publication they were in was called the Senbazuru Orikata (Thousand Crane Folding). It was followed nearly 50 years later with an encyclopedia that contained a full collection of these figures.

Modern origami has progressed to what it is today in great part due to a man named Yoshizawa Akira who in the early 1950's published books containing all new figures. In collaboration with San Randlett, an American, he developed the diagram symbols that are still used today. Today Yoshizawa is remembered as the grandmaster of origami and there are thousands of origami lovers worldwide. Thanks to the development of the diagram symbols it has been easier to record the instructions for the new shapes as they come along ensuring future generations of the information.

How To Make an Origami CD Holder
by Matthew Toledo - 2/13/2005

Have you ever burned a mix CD only to have it scratched after a single trip in the car? You could buy a plastic CD holder, but they eventually crack and shatter. A lot of people take all the artwork out of the case and throw away the plastic case altogether. Either way, you end up with a hunk of plastic that ends up sitting in a land fill for 600 years or more.

What if you could make your own CD case using plain old paper? For a penny or two, you can make a cd case that will do the job and also cut down on waste. When the case gets old, just recycle it.

All you will need to get started is a piece of standard 8 and 1/2 by 11 inch paper and a CD.

First, get a standard piece of plain printer paper paper. Place the CD on the center of the top edge of the page so that the top edge bisects the CD in half.

STEP 1

Now, fold the long sides of the paper over the CD.

STEP 2

Fold the paper in half to form a reference crease.

STEP 3

Unfold the paper. Note the crease we made.

STEP 4

Take bottom half and fold it over to the crease we made in the previous step.

STEP 5

Unfold the previous fold. Now, this part is tricky: fold back the ends and made two folds at 45 degrees so that it forms half of a box.

STEP 6

Take the part of the box that is standing up and flatten it by bringing it forward towards our reference fold while at the same time pulling out on the sides of the box. This will form two flaps that have 45 degree angle folds. The flaps should hang over the sides of cd holder.

STEP 7

This part is tricky too. Take those two hanging flaps and tuck them under. Don't tuck them under the whole piece of paper. The flaps will be like the meat in a sandwich: long piece of paper, flaps, bottom stub which was formed from the remaining part of the box-like structure we made earlier. See the picture for reference.

STEP 8

Move the CD into the bottom. The CD should fit into the stub.

STEP 9

Fold the paper over the top of the CD.

STEP 10

Make two small angular folds. These folds make it easier to tuck the top flap into the bottom stub.

STEP 11

Ta-da. One CD holder!

Write a label on the paper. Then, play with your mini etch-a-sketch. Damn, its hard to etch circles!

Cube (Waterbomb)

A cube folded out of a single square sheet of paper. This model is also called waterbomb.

You have to start with a Waterbomb Base.

1. Start with a square sheet of paper and valley fold it in halfes.

2. Precrease and squash fold.

3. Repeat step 2 on the other side.

4. The finished Waterbomb Base.

1. Fold the sides to the middle.

2. Repeat step 1 on the other side.

3. Fold the left and the right point to the middle.

4. Repeat step 3 on the other side.

5. Fold the points down to the middle. Repeat on the other side.

6. Precrease and then tuck the little triangles inside the pockets. Repeat on the other side.

7. Precrease. Then bring the cube into form by pushing down the top and bottom points, pulling the flaps a little bit apart and blowing air into the hole at the bottom.

8. The finished cube.

For more designs visit: http://origami.iap-peacetree.org