Unfolding Origami

This is a video of some paper folded and cut with the intention of being unfolded through what is called capillary action. As the water is absorbed by the paper, it is sucked up the capillaries (small tubes) in the sheet. This action is a bit like inflating a balloon which straightens the capillaries, forcing the paper to unfold. 

Flottille (detail) from Etienne Cliquet on Vimeo.

It's a unique idea in the origami world. Gives a new meaning to wet-folding!

From Flapping Birds to Space Telescopes

I attended a lecture hosted by the University of Minnesota Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA). The speaker was Robert Lang, renowned origami master.

He talked about the basic principles of origami design from the perspective of crease patterns. He identified four rules:

1) Two-colorability. The open spaces in a pattern can be colored in using two colors and no two adjacent spaces will be the same color.

2) M-V=+/-2 At any given vertex the number of mountain folds will be exactly two more or two less than the number of valley folds.

3) Around each vertex, alternate angles will sum to a straight line.

4) No self intersections of the paper.

For more, watch one of the videos provided by TED or the IMA (for the IMA find the Videos section and click on IMA Math Matters Public Lectures).

He also talked on the modern uses of origami technique and its applications in space, cars, medicine and science. He also answered questions and signed autographs.

I asked him if he thought there was a philosophy of origami. He said that if I asked a hundred folders that question I'd get as many different answers. That every folder has their own philosophy. Lang seems to be a technician at heart. He works out the techniques and the mechanisms so that others can do the art.

The lecture was a chance to expand my origami horizons. Origami Minnesota did some recruiting, so the next meeting might be a bit more energized. I also met Eric Gjerde, author of Origami Tessellations (he is a member of Origami Minnesota, but was not there at my first meeting).

Wet Folding

Wet folding is the origami technique in which a sheet of paper is kept moist throughout the folding process in order to gain better control over the paper. Akira Yoshizawa is credited with inventing the technique several decades ago. He felt that it created softer shapes that were more representative of living, breathing creatures, and unlike the hard geometric lines that are often found on models where wet folding was not used.

Paper is made up of a sheet of short fibrous strands, which when dry are hard and hold their shape. With a traditional fold, the fibers in the paper break in half creating what is commonly called a crease. This crease can be used as a hinge or as a perforation that can be teared. The more a point or line is folded, the more fibers break, and the weaker it becomes. One side-effect of a design with a lot of folding is that it often tears accidentally.

When the paper is wet, the fibers soften and become much more flexible. A properly moistened sheet, when folded, will not break the fibers, but bend them. Since the fibers are undamaged, there is no crease, only a fold. This makes the folded points and lines much stronger throughout the process and when the model is complete. It also means that shapes can be molded onto the paper while wet, and once dried it will hold the new shape.

What I have learned of wet folding comes mostly from a book by Michael G. LaFosse, who founded Origamido Studio. He creates his own paper and usually employs various wet folding techniques.

Akira Yoshizawa

Akira Yoshizawa (March 14, 1911 - March 14, 2005) is credited with the founding of the modern origami movement, and for that reason it is important to take a glance at his life and works.

What makes Yoshizawa so influential is that he changed origami on several levels throughout his life. He developed a method of diagramming the folding process which made it possible for folders to share models across language barriers. He invented wet-folding which softened the harsh geometric lines and allowed for more life-like models. His art was recognized by the Japanese government which awarded him the Order of the Rising Sun, and used him as a cultural ambassador all across the globe.

He was born into a humble farming family, where he was introduced to origami. Then he spent time as a factory worker beginning at the age of 13. Eventually he became a draftsman for the same company and was responsible for teaching geometry to apprentices. He used origami to demonstrate various concepts. He left the factory at 26 to devote himself full-time to origami, making some money doing odd-jobs. He studied to be a Buddhist priest for two years, but never joined a monastery. When war broke out, he joined the Japanese medical corps and worked in Hong Kong where he made origami for the patients there. When he became ill, he returned to Japan. His first great work was a set of zodiac symbols which brought him fame. He started the International Origami Center in Tokyo in 1955 and spent time traveling, teaching and folding.

[The image is from the Origami Chile website]