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Oritecture: Origami-inspired Architecture, Design, Art and Technology

Etymologically, the word Origami [or-rig-gah-mee] originates from the Japanese words ori or oru, meaning ‘to fold’, and kami, meaning ‘paper’. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Origami as ‘the Japanese art or process of folding squares of paper into representational shapes’. This is, however, a very limited definition, as we shall see during the course of this paper. The word Architecture derives from the Latin word Architectura and goes further back from the Greek word Arkhitekton – arkhi meaning chief or main, tekton meaning builder or carpenter. The word tekton further resonates with the Latin word textura – meaning structure, texture, web, and also the word ‘tek’ meaning ‘to make’ from the Sanskrit word ‘takshati’, meaning to fashion, to construct, as also the Greek word ‘tekhne’ for ‘art’. Thus in summation, Oritecture would mean ‘to make or construct using folding.’ While origami was originally popularised largely by Japanese culture, its origins are believed to be pre-Japanese, roughly coinciding with the invention of paper itself. Paper, in turn, is understood to have been invented by Ts’ai Lun, a Chinese court official, in 105 A.D. (pg. 167, Demaine & O’Rourke, 2007). The history [of Origami] within Japan is well-recorded. Time-honoured origami tradition starts with a sheet of paper (usually square). The origamist makes a succession of folds, creating a complex of creases that turns the piece of paper into a montage of polygonal facets. The rekindling of interest in origami in the 20th century and the proliferation of origamists throughout the world is often attributed to the influence of the origami artist Akira Yoshizawa (1911–2005), who pioneered the origami notational system of dotted lines and arrows in his 1957 book called Origami Dokuhon (Kamakura Shobo, Tokyo). The same system, slightly modified, remains in use today. Origami has an intrinsic geometry that is a natural subject of study. The oldest known reference to origami in the context of geometry is an 1840 book by Rev. Dionysius Lardner (1840), which illustrates several geometric concepts using paper folding. (pg. 168, Demaine & O’Rourke, 2007). Origami has begun to find relevance beyond the merely ornamental and is continuing to expand in intricacy. In the last two decades, amazing technical and artistic advancements have been made in the field, largely due to a growing Mathematical and computational understanding and analysis of the subject. Origami has been more than paper for a long time, from Palmer’s silk tessellations to the utilisation of Tyvek for wallets. The fashion industry, as well as architects and designers, has increasingly been finding inspiration in origami. Many things are only now coming to fruition. Curtains by Hannah Allijn, take a tessellating foundation and use it for a functional and delightful purpose. Origami is structure and form, and those who are students of the craft and art are architects of structure. The ability to find collapses, constrained or otherwise, gives us the chance to test structural constraints and give aesthetic consideration at the same time. This rapidly evolving consciousness is wonderful as it has the potential to open up another approach to Design.

Chapters (1) Concepts (a) Tessellations (b) Flat Foldability (c) Corrugations (d) Pre-creasing and CPs

Textiles, Apparel and Fashion Accessories Furniture Architecture and Spaces