いらつしゃいませ!!

In Japan, when you enter a store or a restaurant or a home, the hosts will call out "いらつしゃいませ!"(Ira'shaimase), which means something like "Welcome!" "Come on in!" Which is what I say to you, new and old friends, as I share random thoughts and creations to whomever is interested.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Origami tessellations

















How to fold an origami mikan? This was my quest. How to make a globe out of a flat square of paper. I have made many kusudamas ( 薬玉: medicine balls )before but they use many sheets of small squares folded into units. How could I make a globe out of a single sheet of paper?

And thus began my journey into origami tessellations. The word tessellation(tiling) is when shapes are arranged side by side to produce a pattern with no gaps in between. Origami tessellations are different in that they are made with one sheet of paper using only mountain and valley folds, lots of them!! It is tedious, tiresome and requires oodles of patience! Once made, you connect the edges together into a tube and then you can squash gently into an orb or flatten like a wagon wheel. If you google online, you will find the most amazing origami tessalations.. this will probably be my last foray into the genre. But at least I ended up with a pretty good looking mikan!! (and a bit of Carpel tunnel syndrome ).

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