The Miura-ori opened out like a fan - International Society for the ...

The Miura-ori opened out like a fan - International Society for the ... The Miura-ori opened out like a fan - International Society for the ...

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The Quarterly of theInternational Society for theinterdisciplinary Study of Symmetry(ISIS-Symmetry)Editors:GyiSrgy Darvas and D~nes Nag¥Volume 5, Number 2, 1994The Miura-oriopened out like a fan

<strong>The</strong> Quarterly of <strong>the</strong><strong>International</strong> <strong>Society</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong>interdisciplinary Study of Symmetry(ISIS-Symmetry)Editors:GyiSrgy Darvas and D~nes Nag¥Volume 5, Number 2, 1994<strong>The</strong> <strong>Miura</strong>-<strong>ori</strong><strong>opened</strong> <strong>out</strong> <strong>like</strong> a <strong>fan</strong>


INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THEINTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY OF SYMMETRY(ISIS-SYMMETRY)PresidentD~nes Nagy, lnslltute of Apphed Physics, University ofTsukuba, Tsukuba Soence C~ty 305, Japan(on leave from Eotvos Lot’find Umve~ty, Budapest, Hungary)IGeometry and Crystallography, H~story of Science andTecbnology, Lmgmsucs]Honorary PresidentsKonstantin V. Frolov (Moscow)andMaval Ne’eman (TeI-Avw)Vice-PresidentArthur L. Loeb, Carpenter Center <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> V~sual Arts,Harvard Umverslty. Cambridge, MA 02138,U S A. [Crystallography, Chemical Physics, Visual Art~,Choreography, Music}andSergei V Petukhov, Instnut mashmovedemya RAN(Mechamcal Engineering Research Institute, Russian,Academy of Scmnces 101830 Moskva, ul Griboedova 4, Russia(also Head of <strong>the</strong> Russian Branch Office of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Society</strong>)}B~omechanlcs, B~ontcs, In<strong>for</strong>mauon Mechamcs]Executive SecretaryGybrgy Darvas, Symmetrion - <strong>The</strong> lnsmute<strong>for</strong> Advanced Symmetry StudiesBudapest, PO Box 4, H-1361 Hungary}<strong>The</strong>oretical Physms, Philosophy of Science}Associale Edttar.Jobn Hosack, Department of Ma<strong>the</strong>matics and ComputingScience, Unlverstty of <strong>the</strong> S<strong>out</strong>h Pacific, PO Box 1168, Suva, FIji}Ma<strong>the</strong>matical Analysts, PhflosophylRegional Chat,persons / Representatives.AFRICAMozambique Paulus Gerdes, Inst~tutoSuperior Pedag6gico, Ca~xa Postal 3276, Maputo,Mozambique|Geometry, Ethomatb.emaucs, History of Science}AMERICASBrazd: Ubiratan D’Ambrosio, Rua Pe~xoto Gomide 1772, up. 83,BR-01409 S~o Paulo, Brazd[Ethnoma<strong>the</strong>mat~cs]Canada: Roger V. Jean, DEpartement de mathfimatlqueset m<strong>for</strong>mauque, Um~ers~t~ du QuEbec ~ gamouskt,300 allEe des Ursuhnes, R~mouskL QuEbec, Canada G5L 3AI[ B~oma<strong>the</strong>mattcs]U.S.A " William S. Huff, Departlnent of Architecture,State Umversfly of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo,NY 14214, USA.}Architecture. Des~gnlNicholas Toth, Department of Anthropology,Indiana Utaverslty, Rawles Hall 108, Bloomington,IN ~,7405, U.S A.[Preh~storta Archaeology, Anthropology]ASIAChina. t~R. Da-Fu Ding, Shangha~ Institute of Biochemistry.Academia Stoma, 320 Yue-Yang Road,Shanghai 200031, PR China[<strong>The</strong>oreucal B~ology]Le~Xiao Yu, Department of Fine Arts. NanjmgNormal Umvers~ty, Nanjmg 210024, P.R China}Free Art, Folk Art, Calhgraphy]lndta. Kirti Trivedi, Industrial Design Cenlre, lndmnInstitute of Technology, Powa~, Bombay 400076, IndialDes~gn, lndmn Art]Israel. Hanan Bruen, School of Education,Umvers~ty of Hallo, Mount Carmel, Haffa 31999, Israel[Educanon]Jim Rosen, School of Physics and Astronomy,TeI-Av~v Umvers~ty, Ramat-Avtv, Tel-Av~v 69978. Israel[<strong>The</strong>oretical Physms]Japan. Yasushi Kajfl~awa, Synergel~cs Institute.206 Nakammurahara, Odawara 256, Japan}Design, Geometry]Koichtro Mat~uno, Department of BioEngineering.Nagaoka Umvers~ty of Technology, Nagaoka 940-21, Japan[<strong>The</strong>oretical Physms, Blophys*cs]AUSTRALIA AND OCEANIAAustraha Leslie A, Bursill, School of Physics,Umvers~ty of Melbourne,Parkwlle, Vtctorm 3052, Austraha[Physics, Crystallography]F01: Jan Tent, Department of L~leratum and Language,University of <strong>the</strong> S<strong>out</strong>h Pacific,PO Box 1168, Suva, F0t [Lmgmsttcs]New Zealand. Michael C. Corballis, Department of Psychology,Umversily of Auckland, Private Bag, Auckland I, New Zealand[Psychology]Tonga. ’Ilaisa Futa-i-Ha’angana Helu, Director,’Atems~ (A<strong>the</strong>ns) Institute and Umverslly,PO. Box 90, Nuku’alofa, Kingdom of Tonga[Phdosophy, Polynesian Culture]EUROPEBenelux" Pieter Huybers, Facultett der Civlele Techniek,Techmsche Untverstte~t Delft(C~wl Engineering Faculty, Delft Utavers~ty of Technology),Stevmweg I, NL-2628 CN Delft, <strong>The</strong> Ne<strong>the</strong>rlands[Geometry of Structures, Budding Technology}Bulgaria: Ruslan I. Kostov, Geologtcheski lnstltut BAN(Geological Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences),ul Akad G. Bonchev 24, BG-III3 Sofia, Bulgaria[Geology, M meralog3’]Czech Republic: X’bjt~h KopskJ;, Fyz~k~lnt t~stav (~AV(Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences), CS-180 40Praha 8 (Prague), Na Slovance 2 (POB 24),Czech Republic [Sohd S~te Physics}France: Pierre Sz~kely, 3bts, impasse Vflliers de I’lsle Adam,F-75020 Paris, France [Sculpture]continued inside back cover


.!1..i|CULTURE & SCIENCE I|<strong>The</strong> Quarterly of <strong>the</strong> <strong>International</strong> <strong>Society</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong>Interdisciplinary Study of Symmetry(ISIS-Symmetry)Editors:GyOrgy Darvas and D~nes NagyVolume 5, Number ~ 113-224, 1994SPECIAL ISSUE: ORIGAMI, 2Edited byD~nes Nagy and Gy0rgy DarvasCONTENTSSYMMETRY: CULTURE & SCIENCE¯ Ma<strong>the</strong>matical alg<strong>ori</strong>thms <strong>for</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gami design, RobertJ. Lang¯ Ma<strong>the</strong>matical remarks ab<strong>out</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gami bases, Jacques Justin¯ Evolution of <strong>ori</strong>gami organisms, Jun Maekawa¯ Paper sculpture, Didier BoursinSYMMETRIC GALLERY - ORIGAMI¯ Paper sculpture, Didier Boursin¯ Stag beetle 2, RobertJ. LangRESEARCH PROBLEMS ON SYMMETRY¯ Research problem 1, D~nes NagySYMMETR O-GRAPHY115153167179189190197211213SFS: SYMMETRIC FORUM OF THE SOCIETY 219


SYMMETRY: CULTUlCEAND SCIENCE is edited by <strong>the</strong> Board of <strong>the</strong> <strong>International</strong> <strong>Society</strong><strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> Interdisciplinary Study of Symmetry (ISIS-Symmetry) and published quarterlyby <strong>the</strong> <strong>International</strong> Symmetry Foundation. <strong>The</strong> views expressed are those ofindividual authors, and not necessarily shared by <strong>the</strong> <strong>Society</strong> or <strong>the</strong> Editors.Any correspondence should be addressed to <strong>the</strong> Editors:Gy6rgy DarvasSymmetrion - <strong>The</strong> Institute <strong>for</strong> Advanced Symmetry StudiesP.O. Box 4, Budapest, H-1361 HungaryPhone: 36-1-131-8326 Fax: 36-1-131-3161E-mail: h492dar@ella.huD6nes NagyInstitute of Applied PhysicsUniversity of TsukubaTsukuba Science City 305, JapanPhone: 81-298-53-6786 Fax: 81-298-53-5205E-mail: nagy@kafka.bk.tsukuba.ac.jp<strong>The</strong> section SFS: Symmetric Forum of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Society</strong> has an E-Journal Supplement.Annual membership fee of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Society</strong>: Benefactors, US$780.00;Ordinary Members, US$78.00 (including <strong>the</strong> subscription to <strong>the</strong> quarterly);Student Members, US$63.00;Instituaonal Members, please contact <strong>the</strong> Executive Secretary.Annual subscription rate <strong>for</strong> non-members: US$96.00 + mailing cost.Make checks payable to ISIS-Symmetry and mail to Gy0rgy Darvas, Executive Secretary,or transfer to <strong>the</strong> following account number: ISIS-Symmetry, <strong>International</strong>Symmetry Foundation, 401-0004.827-99 (US$) or 407-0004-827-99 (DM),Hungarian Foreign Trade Bank, Budapest, Szt. Istv~in t6r 11, H-1821 Hungary(Telex: Hungary 22-6941 extr-h; Swift MKKB HU HB).ISIS-Symmetry. No part of this publication may be reproduced with<strong>out</strong> writtenpermission from <strong>the</strong> <strong>Society</strong>.ISSN 0865-4824Cover lay<strong>out</strong>: Gunter SchmitzImage on <strong>the</strong> front cover. Biruta Kresling<strong>The</strong> <strong>Miura</strong>-<strong>ori</strong> <strong>opened</strong> <strong>out</strong> <strong>like</strong> a.<strong>fan</strong>, simulates <strong>the</strong> mechanism responsible J’or <strong>the</strong> <strong>out</strong>stretching of <strong>the</strong>beetle’s membraneous hindwin gAmbigram on <strong>the</strong> back cove~. John Langdon (Wordplay, 1992)Logo on <strong>the</strong> title page: Kirti Trivedi and Manisha l.eleFot6k~sz anyagr61 a nyomdai kivitelez6st vdgezte:9421768 AKAPRINT Kft. F. v.: Dr. H~czey Lfiszl6n~


3)rmmetry: Culture and ScienceVot 5, No. 2, 115-152, 1994MATHEMATICAL ALGORITHMS FORORIGAMI DESIGNRobert J. Lang7580 Olive Drive Pleasanton, CA 94588, USAE-mail: rjlang@aol.comAlthough hundreds of years old, <strong>the</strong> Japanese art of <strong>ori</strong>gami has only recentlybecome <strong>the</strong> subject of ma<strong>the</strong>matical scrutiny. In recent years, a number ofma<strong>the</strong>matical aspects of <strong>ori</strong>gami have been published in books and journals. Asampling of <strong>the</strong> work of ma<strong>the</strong>matical folders is to be found in recent mainstreampublications, e.g., (Kasahara, 1988) and (Engel, 1989); however a large number offolders have attacked <strong>the</strong> problem of systematic/ma<strong>the</strong>matical <strong>ori</strong>gami design. <strong>The</strong>yinclude Peter Engel and myself in America, and many folders in Japan, includingHusimi, Meguro, Maekawa, and Kawahata. As befits a young and expanding field,much of <strong>the</strong> scientific analysis is circulated in<strong>for</strong>mally (notably over <strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gami-Imailing list on <strong>the</strong> Internet: to join, send <strong>the</strong> message "subscribe <strong>ori</strong>gami-Iyourname" to listserv@nstn.ns.ca).<strong>The</strong> goal of many <strong>ori</strong>gami aficionados is to design new <strong>ori</strong>gami figures and <strong>for</strong>many, <strong>the</strong> pursuit of <strong>ori</strong>gami ma<strong>the</strong>matics is a search <strong>for</strong> tools leading to ever morecomplex or sophisticated designs. In this article, I will describe two powerfulalg<strong>ori</strong>thms <strong>for</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gami design that I have successfully applied to <strong>the</strong> design of fish,crustacea, insects, and numerous o<strong>the</strong>r <strong>ori</strong>gami models. Although I will describe<strong>the</strong> alg<strong>ori</strong>thms in <strong>the</strong> <strong>for</strong>m I am familiar with, similar techniques have beendescribed by Dr. Toshiyuki Meguro in <strong>the</strong> (Japanese-language) publication Oru andin <strong>the</strong> newsletter of <strong>the</strong> Origami Tanteidan, a Japanese association of <strong>ori</strong>gamidesigners.1. THE CIRCLE METHOD OF DESIGN<strong>The</strong> first design approach is represented by what I and o<strong>the</strong>rs call <strong>the</strong> ’circlemethod’. In <strong>the</strong> circle method, each flap on <strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gami model is represented by acircle whose radius is equal to <strong>the</strong> length of <strong>the</strong> flap. <strong>The</strong> goal of <strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gami designprocess is to place circles representing each flap on <strong>the</strong> square in such a way that<strong>the</strong> centers of all circles lie within <strong>the</strong> square (although some part of <strong>the</strong> circle canextend over <strong>the</strong> edges of <strong>the</strong> square) and no two circles overlap one ano<strong>the</strong>r. This


116R. J. LANGapproach is one that both I and Fumiaki Kawahata have used extensively, although- as happens so often in <strong>the</strong> sciences - we each developed our methods initiallyunaware of <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r’s activities. I am not aware of o<strong>the</strong>r Westerners using <strong>the</strong>circle method, although <strong>the</strong> young American folder, Jimmy Schaefer, has developeda successful and related design method, which he has dubbed, ’<strong>the</strong> method ofisolating squares’, based on concepts similar to <strong>the</strong> circle method. In Japan, <strong>the</strong>seconcepts of <strong>ori</strong>gami design are more widely known than in <strong>the</strong> West.<strong>The</strong> fundamental concepts of <strong>the</strong> circle method of design and i~s derivatives are_two: first, since most <strong>ori</strong>gami models can be broken down into a number of flaps ofvarious lengths, a successful design hinges upon constructing <strong>the</strong> right number andsizes of flaps. Second, paper must be conserved; any part of <strong>the</strong> square can be usedin no more than 1 flap at a time. <strong>The</strong> circle method of <strong>ori</strong>gami design consists ofrepresenting <strong>the</strong> subject as a collection of flaps and allocating a unique circularregion of paper <strong>for</strong> each flap.For <strong>the</strong> purposes of <strong>ori</strong>gami design, <strong>the</strong>re are three different types of flaps: ’corner’flaps, ’edge’ flaps, and/or ’interior’ flaps, or ’middle’ flaps, as some call <strong>the</strong>m. <strong>The</strong>different types of flaps are named <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> point where <strong>the</strong> tip of <strong>the</strong> flap falls on <strong>the</strong>square. If you take a model that has a lot of flaps, color <strong>the</strong> tip of each flap, and<strong>the</strong>n unfold <strong>the</strong> model, you’ll get a square with a pattern of dots on it. Some dotswill fall on <strong>the</strong> corners of <strong>the</strong> square; o<strong>the</strong>rs on <strong>the</strong> edges; still o<strong>the</strong>rs will be in <strong>the</strong>interior of <strong>the</strong> square. Since each dot corresponds to a flap of <strong>the</strong> model, we canclassify <strong>the</strong> flap by <strong>the</strong> location of <strong>the</strong> dot, which is <strong>the</strong> location of <strong>the</strong> tip of <strong>the</strong>flap. A corner flap has its tip come from a corner of <strong>the</strong> square, an edge flap has itstip lie somewhere along an edge, and a middle flap, as you would expect, comesfrom <strong>the</strong> middle of <strong>the</strong> paper. For example, <strong>the</strong> four large flaps on a Frog Base arecorner flaps; <strong>the</strong> four stubby flaps are edge flaps; and <strong>the</strong> thick flap at <strong>the</strong> top is amiddle flap.<strong>The</strong> reason <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> distinction between <strong>the</strong> three different types of flap is that <strong>for</strong> agiven length, each of <strong>the</strong> three types of flaps consumes a different amount of paper.One way to see this difference is to fold corner, edge, and interior flaps of exactly<strong>the</strong> same size from three different squares as shown in Figure 1 below, where Iillustrated <strong>the</strong> folding of a corner flap. If you imagine (or fold) a boundary across<strong>the</strong> base of <strong>the</strong> flap, <strong>the</strong>n that boundary divides <strong>the</strong> paper into two regions: <strong>the</strong>paper above <strong>the</strong> boundary is part of <strong>the</strong> flap, and <strong>the</strong> paper below <strong>the</strong> boundary iseverything else. <strong>The</strong> paper that goes into <strong>the</strong> flap is <strong>for</strong> all intents and purposesconsumed by <strong>the</strong> flap; any o<strong>the</strong>r flaps must come from <strong>the</strong> rest of <strong>the</strong> square.So, as Figure l(a) shows, if you fold a flap of length L from a square so that <strong>the</strong> tipof <strong>the</strong> flap comes from <strong>the</strong> corner of <strong>the</strong> square, when you unfold <strong>the</strong> paper to <strong>the</strong><strong>ori</strong>ginal square, you see that <strong>the</strong> region of <strong>the</strong> square that went into <strong>the</strong> flap isroughly a quarter of a circle. Well, technically, it’s a quarter of an octagon. Supposewe made <strong>the</strong> flap half <strong>the</strong> width, as shown in Figure l(b) be<strong>for</strong>e we unfolded it;


MATHEMATICAL ALGORITHMS FOR ORIGAMI DESIGN 117<strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> flap becomes a quarter of a 16-gon. If we kept making <strong>the</strong> flap thinner andthinner (using infinitely thin paper!), <strong>the</strong> boundary of <strong>the</strong> flap would approach aquarter-circle. Since we may not know ahead of time how thin a given flap will be,we’ll take <strong>the</strong> circle as a reasonable approximation of <strong>the</strong> boundary of <strong>the</strong> region of<strong>the</strong> paper consumed by <strong>the</strong> flap. A comer flap of length L, <strong>the</strong>re<strong>for</strong>e, requires aquarter-circle of paper, and <strong>the</strong> radius of <strong>the</strong> circle is L, <strong>the</strong> length of <strong>the</strong> flap.LFigure l(a): Folding a corner flap of length L from a square.Figure l(b): (Left) Making a narrower flap makes <strong>the</strong> boundary a quarter of a 16-gon. (Right) <strong>The</strong> limitof <strong>the</strong> boundary as <strong>the</strong> flap becomes infinitely thin approaches a semicircle.<strong>The</strong>re<strong>for</strong>e, all of <strong>the</strong> paper that lies within <strong>the</strong> quarter-circle is consumed by <strong>the</strong>flap, and <strong>the</strong> paper remaining is ours to use to fold <strong>the</strong> rest of <strong>the</strong> model.Now, suppose we are making a flap from an edge. How do we do that? Well, if wefold <strong>the</strong> square in half, <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> point where <strong>the</strong> crease hits <strong>the</strong> edge becomecomers, and we can fold corner flaps <strong>out</strong> of one of <strong>the</strong>se new corners, as shown inFigure 2. If we fold and unfold across <strong>the</strong> flap to define a flap of length L and <strong>the</strong>nunfold to <strong>the</strong> square, you see that an edge flap of length L consumes a half-circle ofpaper, and again, <strong>the</strong> radius of <strong>the</strong> circle is L, <strong>the</strong> length of <strong>the</strong> flap.


1181~ I. I_.ANGFigure 2: Folding an edge flap of length L from a square.Similarly, we can make a flap from some region in <strong>the</strong> interior of <strong>the</strong> paper (itdoesn’t have to be <strong>the</strong> very middle, of course). Figure 3 shows how such a flap ismade. When you unfold <strong>the</strong> paper, you seen that an interior flap requires a fullcircle of paper, and once again, <strong>the</strong> radius of <strong>the</strong> circle is <strong>the</strong> length of <strong>the</strong> flap.IIIFigur~ 3: Folding a middle flap of length L from a square.Figure 4: Unfolding a crane (which has four major flap~) reveals that <strong>the</strong> quarter-circles correspondingto <strong>the</strong> four [lap~ consume almost all of <strong>the</strong> paper in <strong>the</strong> model.So, any given flap in a model consumes a quarter, half, orJfull circle of paper,depending upon whe<strong>the</strong>r it is a corner flap, edge flap, or interior flap. It is aninteresting and illuminating exercise to unfold an existing model and draw in <strong>the</strong>


MATHEMATICAL ALGORITHMS FOR ORIGAMI DESIGN 119circles corresponding to <strong>the</strong> various flaps of <strong>the</strong> model. For example, <strong>the</strong> traditionalcrane, made from <strong>the</strong> Bird Base, has four major flaps. As shown in Figure 4, <strong>the</strong>yare all corner flaps, and each flap consumes a quarter-circle of <strong>the</strong> square. (If wecount <strong>the</strong> pyramid in <strong>the</strong> middle of <strong>the</strong> back as a flap, we would have ano<strong>the</strong>r,smaller circle in <strong>the</strong> center of <strong>the</strong> square. However, since real cranes don’t havepyramids in <strong>the</strong>ir back, I consider that an ’accidental’ flap and we won’t count it inour tally.) Since well over 3/4 of <strong>the</strong> area of <strong>the</strong> square goes into <strong>the</strong> four majorflaps, we would say that <strong>the</strong> crane shows an efficient use of paper.What we are doing here is to build up a set of ma<strong>the</strong>matical tools that can be usedto design <strong>ori</strong>gami models, making <strong>ori</strong>gami design a scientific process. One of <strong>the</strong>goals of all scientific endeavors is <strong>the</strong> concept of unification: describing severaldisparate phenomena as different aspects of a single concept. Ra<strong>the</strong>r than thinkingin terms of quarter-circles, half-circles, and full-circles <strong>for</strong> different kinds of flaps,we can unify our description of <strong>the</strong>se different types of flaps by realizing that <strong>the</strong>quarter-circles, half-circles, and full circles are all <strong>for</strong>med by <strong>the</strong> overlap of a fullcircle with <strong>the</strong> square, as shown in Figure 5. <strong>The</strong> concept common to all three typesof flaps is that <strong>the</strong> paper <strong>for</strong> each can be represented by a circle with <strong>the</strong> center of<strong>the</strong> circle lying somewhere within <strong>the</strong> square. With middle flaps, <strong>the</strong> circle lieswholly within <strong>the</strong> square. However, with corner and edge flaps, part of <strong>the</strong> circlelaps over <strong>the</strong> edge of <strong>the</strong> square. (<strong>The</strong> center of <strong>the</strong> circle still has to lie within <strong>the</strong>square, though.) Thus, any type of flap can be represented by a circle whose center,which corresponds to <strong>the</strong> tip of <strong>the</strong> flap, lies somewhere within <strong>the</strong> square.Figure 5: All three types of points can be represented by a circle if we allow <strong>the</strong> circle to overlap <strong>the</strong>edges o~ <strong>the</strong> square.<strong>The</strong> examples above showed how to fold a single flap from a square. Suppose wewant to make more than one flap at a time from <strong>the</strong> square (which is usually <strong>the</strong>case, unless you are designing a worm), and you draw <strong>the</strong> circles corresponding toeach flap. Is <strong>the</strong>re anything we can say ab<strong>out</strong> <strong>the</strong> circles even be<strong>for</strong>e we start? Well,since no part of <strong>the</strong> paper can be used in two different flaps simultaneously, andeach circle delineates <strong>the</strong> paper used in each flap, no two parts of <strong>the</strong> paper can lie


inside two different circles. <strong>The</strong>re<strong>for</strong>e, no two circles corresponding to different flapscan overlap on <strong>the</strong> unfolded square.Although this property seems pretty general, it is in fact quite restrictive. If youwant to fold a model with ten flaps, you know that if you unfold <strong>the</strong> model anddraw <strong>the</strong> circles corresponding to each flap, no two of <strong>the</strong> circles will overlap. So ifyou eliminate all arrangements of points <strong>for</strong> which <strong>the</strong> circles overlap, you must becloser to a design solution.In fact, <strong>the</strong> ramifications of <strong>the</strong> non-overlapping property are a great deal stronger;if you draw ten non-overlapping circles on a square, it is guaranteed (in ama<strong>the</strong>matical sense) that <strong>the</strong> square can be folded into a base with ten flaps whosetips come from <strong>the</strong> centers of <strong>the</strong> circles. So merely by shuffling circles around on asquare, you can construct an arrangement of points that can be folded into a basewith <strong>the</strong> same number of points, no matter how complex!<strong>The</strong>re<strong>for</strong>e, here is an alg<strong>ori</strong>thm <strong>for</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gami design:(1) Count up <strong>the</strong> number of appendages in <strong>the</strong> subject and note <strong>the</strong>ir lengths.(2) Represent each flap of <strong>the</strong> desired base by a circle whose radius is <strong>the</strong> length of<strong>the</strong> flap.(3) Position <strong>the</strong> circles on a square such that no two overlap and <strong>the</strong> center of eachcircle lies within <strong>the</strong> square.(4) Connect adjacent centers to one ano<strong>the</strong>r with crease lines.<strong>The</strong> resulting pattern can be foldable into a base with <strong>the</strong> number and dimension offlaps that you started with.This is a powerful property <strong>for</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gami designers. If you lay <strong>out</strong> circlescorresponding to <strong>the</strong> flaps of your subject on a square so <strong>the</strong>y don’t overlap, you areguaranteed of <strong>the</strong> existence of a folding sequence that can trans<strong>for</strong>m <strong>the</strong> pattern into<strong>the</strong> desired base. Finding <strong>the</strong> folding method may still be a bit of a trick, of course,but by beginning from a valid circle pattern, you certainly eliminate a lot of blindalleys.One thing that is immediately apparent from <strong>the</strong> circle method of design is thatcorner flaps consume less paper than edge flaps, which consume less paper thaninterior flaps. Turn this property around, and you find that <strong>for</strong> a given size square,you can fold a larger model (with fewer layers of paper) if you use corner flapsra<strong>the</strong>r than edge flaps, and edges flaps ra<strong>the</strong>r than interior flaps. Seen in <strong>the</strong> lightof <strong>the</strong> circle method, <strong>the</strong> traditional crane - and <strong>the</strong> Bird Base from which it comes- is an extremely efficient design, since all four flaps are corner flaps, and almostall of <strong>the</strong> paper goes into one of <strong>the</strong> four flaps. However, add one or two more


MATHEMATICAL ALGORITHMS FOR ORIGAMI DESIGN 121flaps, and you are <strong>for</strong>ced to use edge flaps. Once you start mixing edge flaps andinterior flaps, you begin to run into tradeoffs in efficiency. Sometimes, it is evenbetter not to use <strong>the</strong> corners <strong>for</strong> flaps if <strong>the</strong>re are additional flaps to be placed on<strong>the</strong> square!So, <strong>for</strong> example, suppose we want to fold a base withfive, ra<strong>the</strong>r than four, equallengthflaps. A little doodling with a pencil and paper (or alternatively, you can cut<strong>out</strong> some cardboard circles and shuffle <strong>the</strong>m around) will reveal two particularlyefficient arrangements of circles, as shown in Figure 6 below.(a)(b)L = 0.707 L = 0.647Figure 6: Two c~rcle patterns corresponding to bases with five equal-length points.Now we have two possible circle patterns. Which one is better? Is <strong>the</strong>re any way toquantify <strong>the</strong> ’quality’ of a crease pattern?One way of comparing different ways of folding <strong>the</strong> same base is to compare <strong>the</strong>irefficiency; that is, from a given size square, how large is <strong>the</strong> base? A useful measureof efficiency is to compare <strong>the</strong> size of some standard feature of <strong>the</strong> base - such as<strong>the</strong> length of a flap - to <strong>the</strong> size of <strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>ginal square. To facilitate thiscomparison, let’s assume our square is one ’unit’ on a side. If you’re using standard<strong>ori</strong>gami paper, a unit is 10 inches. For <strong>the</strong> crease patt.erns shown in Figure 6(a), ifall of <strong>the</strong> circles are <strong>the</strong> same size, it is fairly easy to work <strong>out</strong> that <strong>the</strong> radius ofeach circle, and thus <strong>the</strong> length of each of <strong>the</strong> five flaps, is 1/v~, or 0.707. For <strong>the</strong>pattern in Figure 6(b), it is somewhat harder to calculate but <strong>the</strong> radius of eachcircle is 0.647, or ab<strong>out</strong> 10% smaller. Thus, a five-flap base made from pattern 6(a)will be slightly larger, and slightly more efficient than <strong>the</strong> pattern made from Figure6(b).<strong>The</strong>se two circle patterns are relatively simple. By connecting <strong>the</strong> centers of <strong>the</strong>circles with creases and adding a few more creases, you can collapse <strong>the</strong> model into


122 R ].. LANGa base that has <strong>the</strong> desired number of flaps. As it turns <strong>out</strong>, <strong>the</strong>re already exists in<strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gami literature two bases that correspond to <strong>the</strong>se circle patterns, shown inFigure 7. Figure 7(a) is <strong>the</strong> circle pattern <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> Frog Base, while Figure 7(b) is <strong>the</strong>circle pattern <strong>for</strong> John Montroll’s ’Five-Sided Square’ (Montroll, 1985).(a)(b)Figure 7: Full crease patterns corresponding to <strong>the</strong> two circle patterns.You can also see a difference between <strong>the</strong> two bases. In <strong>the</strong> Frog Base, <strong>the</strong> fifth flapis a thick middle flap and points in <strong>the</strong> opposite direction from <strong>the</strong> four cornerflaps; whereas in <strong>the</strong> Five-Sided Square, <strong>the</strong> four edge flaps and <strong>the</strong> corner flap goin <strong>the</strong> same direction and can easily be made to appear identical (which, of course,was <strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>ginal rationale <strong>for</strong> John’s design). It’s worth a slight reduction in size toobtain <strong>the</strong> similarity in appearance <strong>for</strong> all five flaps.While <strong>the</strong> two solutions <strong>for</strong> five equal-sized flaps correspond to published bases, Ifind it remarkable that <strong>the</strong> most efficient base <strong>for</strong> six equal flaps is not yetpublished. You might wish to try your hand at <strong>the</strong> following two problems:(1) Find a circle pattern <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> largest possible base that has six equal-length flapsand fold it into <strong>the</strong> base.(2) Find a circle pattern <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> largest possible base that has six equal-length flaps,3 on each side of a line of bilateral symmetry, and fold it into <strong>the</strong> base. (<strong>The</strong>surprising solution has two middle flap!!)As I said be<strong>for</strong>e, although <strong>the</strong> circle method guarantees that a folding sequenceexists to convert <strong>the</strong> skeletal crease pattern into a base, it doesn’t necessarilyprovide any guidance as to what that folding sequence actually is! (Meguro’s’molecular’ approach of fitting toge<strong>the</strong>r pre-existing crease patterns, however, helpsfill in this gap.) So even if you work <strong>out</strong> a circle pattern, with or with<strong>out</strong> acomputer, you (and <strong>the</strong> computer) still have some work ahead of you to figure <strong>out</strong>how to fold <strong>the</strong> crease pattern into a base. However, it is a big help to start with acrease pattern that is guaranteed to work - you can avoid using a basic symmetrythat is doomed to failure from <strong>the</strong> start!


MA THEMA TICAL ALGORITHMS FOR ORIGAMI DESIGN123Interestingly, <strong>the</strong>re is a strong connection here between <strong>ori</strong>gami design and a wellknownbranch of geometry, that of packing circles. (For an excellent introductionto <strong>the</strong> latter, see (Gardner, 1992), Chapter 10, Tangent Circles.) For every patternof circle packings in a square <strong>the</strong>re is a corresponding <strong>ori</strong>gami base and vice-versa;conversely, many <strong>ori</strong>gami design problems my be solved by published solutions todifferent circle-packing problems.)<strong>The</strong> circle method as described above works very well <strong>for</strong> models with many flapsthat all come from <strong>the</strong> same part of <strong>the</strong> subject’s body. <strong>The</strong> legs of insects andspiders, <strong>for</strong> example, all emanate from a single body segment. However, <strong>the</strong> circlemethod has one enormous liability. Since we consider only <strong>the</strong> total number offlaps and <strong>the</strong>ir lengths in <strong>the</strong> circle method of design, we have no way ofincorporating in<strong>for</strong>mation ab<strong>out</strong> how those flaps are connected to one ano<strong>the</strong>r into<strong>the</strong> design. In fact, <strong>the</strong> circle method implicitly assumes that all <strong>the</strong> flaps areconnected to each o<strong>the</strong>r at a single point! In <strong>the</strong> subject, <strong>the</strong> head bone may beconnected to <strong>the</strong> neck bone, and <strong>the</strong> neck bone’s connected to <strong>the</strong> chest bone, butwith <strong>the</strong> circle method, every bone’s connected to every o<strong>the</strong>r bone at one spot.That is a severe limitation <strong>for</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gami design. For example, a typical mammal hasthree flaps (head and <strong>for</strong>elegs) at one end, three (tail and hind legs) at <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r,and a body in between. <strong>The</strong> circle method can produce <strong>the</strong> head, legs, and tail, but<strong>the</strong>re is no mechanism to include extra paper between <strong>the</strong> <strong>for</strong>elegs and hind legs to<strong>for</strong>m a body. <strong>The</strong> circle method is not <strong>the</strong> whole story of <strong>ori</strong>gami design, however.<strong>The</strong>re is a more sophisticated alg<strong>ori</strong>thm that includes <strong>the</strong> body, and in fact doesindeed work <strong>for</strong> arbitrary arrangements of flaps and <strong>the</strong>ir connections. Now that wehave established some basic concepts of <strong>ori</strong>gami design, we are ready to move on to<strong>the</strong> next level of <strong>ori</strong>gami design and introduce <strong>the</strong> ’tree method’. This newalg<strong>ori</strong>thm will be described in <strong>the</strong> next section.2 TREE METHOD OF DESIGN<strong>The</strong> circle method as described above works best <strong>for</strong>.models that have all of <strong>the</strong>irflaps emanating from nearly <strong>the</strong> same place, models whose basic shape is star-<strong>like</strong>.Quite a few subjects fall into this category - particularly insects, which have legsand wings all emanating from a single body segment, <strong>the</strong> thorax. (Antenna causeproblems, since <strong>the</strong>y come from <strong>the</strong> head.) However, <strong>the</strong> circle method gives lessthan-satisfactoryresults <strong>for</strong> subjects that don’t have a simple star shape - <strong>like</strong> mostterrestrial vertebrates. A typical mammal, <strong>for</strong> example, has a cluster of three flaps(head, <strong>for</strong>elegs) separated from ano<strong>the</strong>r cluster of three flaps (tail, hind legs) by anadditional segment (<strong>the</strong> body). <strong>The</strong> circle method only deals in flaps and clusters offlaps; we have no way of including segments that connect different clusterstoge<strong>the</strong>r.


124 R. I. I../~VGAn extension of <strong>the</strong> circle method works <strong>for</strong> a much larger class of models that canhave more complex structure. I call <strong>the</strong> extended method <strong>the</strong> ’tree method’.Although <strong>the</strong> tree method is built upon <strong>the</strong> ideas of <strong>the</strong> circle method, it takes asomewhat different <strong>for</strong>m. <strong>The</strong> fundamental concept of <strong>the</strong> tree method of <strong>ori</strong>gamidesign is that you represent <strong>the</strong> model by a stick figure (<strong>the</strong> tree) that has a branch<strong>for</strong> each arm, leg, wing, or o<strong>the</strong>r appendage. Each branch has a certain length,which you have chosen to be <strong>the</strong> length of <strong>the</strong> appendage in <strong>the</strong> final model. Bymapping <strong>the</strong> tree onto a square according to a small number of rules, you canconstruct <strong>the</strong> skeleton of a crease pattern that, <strong>like</strong> <strong>the</strong> one you get from <strong>the</strong> circlemethod, is guaranteed to be capable of being folding into <strong>the</strong> stick figure and, byextension, into <strong>the</strong> desired model. Un<strong>like</strong> <strong>the</strong> circle method, which only applied tostick figures that were fundamentally star-<strong>like</strong>, <strong>the</strong> tree method works <strong>for</strong> arbitrarilyconnected graphs.To understand <strong>the</strong> rules <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> mapping, I’ll show how it applies to a realisticdesign problem, a lizard. A lizard is simple enough that we won’t get bogged downin a lot of details, but it’s complicated enough to illustrate <strong>the</strong> basic approach, andbecause of its long body, it is precisely <strong>the</strong> type of model that <strong>the</strong> circle method hastrouble with.So, Figure 8(a) shows a drawing of a lizard. We would <strong>like</strong> to fold an <strong>ori</strong>gami modelof a lizard, that might look something <strong>like</strong> Figure 8(b). (Actually, I’d hope it looksa lot better than Figure 8(b); I can fold a lot better than I can draw.) I’ll start bydrawing <strong>the</strong> ’tree’ that represents <strong>the</strong> lizard, as shown in Figure 8(c). A tree is astick figure. On this stick figure, I have labeled each branch of <strong>the</strong> tree - whichcorresponds to an appendage or body segment of <strong>the</strong> lizard - with its desiredlength. <strong>The</strong> tail and body are 2 units long, <strong>the</strong> legs are 1 unit long each, and <strong>the</strong>head is also 1 unit long. Since I don’t know what size square I’m going to be foldingfrom and I don’t know (yet) how large <strong>the</strong> lizard is with respect to <strong>the</strong> square, I’lldefer, <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> moment, <strong>the</strong> question of just how long a ’unit’ is.(a) (b) (c)rear frontfoot foot: headrearfootfrontfootFigure I1: (Left) A real lizard. (Middle) A hypo<strong>the</strong>tical <strong>ori</strong>gami lizard. (Right) <strong>The</strong> tree, or stick figure,corresponding to our hypo<strong>the</strong>tical lizard.My end goal is to lind a crease pattern on a square that can be folded into <strong>the</strong>lizard. My intermediate goal will be to find a crease pattern that can be folded into


MATHEMATICAL ALGORITHMS FOR ORIGAMI DESIGN 125<strong>the</strong> tree. At first, it seems <strong>like</strong> I’ve made my life harder by setting <strong>the</strong> tree as mytarget. Since <strong>the</strong> branches of <strong>the</strong> tree are infinitely thin, it would take an infiniteamount of folding (and infinitely thin paper) to fold it exactly. However, think of<strong>the</strong> tree as <strong>the</strong> lizard stripped of confusing detail. <strong>The</strong> tree, in its stark simplicity,represents an easier target <strong>for</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gami design than <strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>ginal subject. Andanyhow, I don’t have to fold <strong>the</strong> tree exactly; if I fold a shape that closely resembles<strong>the</strong> tree, I’ll have a shape - a base - that is suitable <strong>for</strong> folding a lizard.In <strong>the</strong> tree method of design, each branch on <strong>the</strong> tree corresponds to some flap on<strong>the</strong> square. Tree branches that end at a point - which I call ’leaves’ (or terminalnodes, if you prefer) - correspond to appendages of <strong>the</strong> subject, <strong>like</strong> <strong>the</strong> head, tailand legs. Tree branches that are connected to o<strong>the</strong>r branches at both endscorrespond to body segments that join groups of appendages.Since I’m trying to establish a link between <strong>the</strong> square and <strong>the</strong> hypo<strong>the</strong>tical lizard,let’s start at <strong>the</strong> lizard and work backwards. If I already possessed a folded versionof <strong>the</strong> lizard and I made dots at important points - <strong>the</strong> tips of <strong>the</strong> legs, head, andtail, and where legs and body come toge<strong>the</strong>r - when I unfolded <strong>the</strong> paper to asquare, I could keep track of where those significant points fall on <strong>the</strong> square. <strong>The</strong>points where branches terminate or where several branches come toge<strong>the</strong>r areimportant; I’ll call each of those points a ’node’ and label it with a name,corresponding to its position in <strong>the</strong> subject. Obviously, all of <strong>the</strong> nodes must liesomewhere on <strong>the</strong> square, and a great deal of <strong>the</strong> structure of <strong>the</strong> base is tied up inwhere <strong>the</strong> different nodes fall on <strong>the</strong> square. We ought to be able to draw <strong>the</strong> entiretree on <strong>the</strong> square so that <strong>the</strong> nodes match up with <strong>the</strong>ir corresponding points.<strong>The</strong>re are lots of different possibilities <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> position of <strong>the</strong> nodes with respect to<strong>the</strong> square; a few of <strong>the</strong>m are shown in Figure 9.Figure 9: Three different possible arrangements of <strong>the</strong> lizard tree on <strong>the</strong> square./..."


It sort of makes sense that we would want <strong>the</strong> head and tail at opposite corners of<strong>the</strong> square, so let’s suppose <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> sake of argument, that we already had asuccessfully folded lizard-<strong>like</strong> shape, that we marked <strong>the</strong> locations of <strong>the</strong> nodes andbranches on <strong>the</strong> shape, and <strong>the</strong>n unfolded it to a square, giving <strong>the</strong> arrangementshown in Figure 10.frontfoot~’rontfootFigure 10: One possible arrangement of nodes <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> lizard tree.An important issue (actually, one of <strong>the</strong> most important) is how large <strong>the</strong> tree iscompared to <strong>the</strong> size of <strong>the</strong> square. One of <strong>the</strong> hallmarks of good <strong>ori</strong>gami design isefficiency; <strong>the</strong> best designs generally are those that waste very little paper. Forexample, if you are folding a 3-pointed shape, you could start from a 4-pointed baseand crumple up one of <strong>the</strong> flaps to hide it; but that wouldn’t be nearly ases<strong>the</strong>tically pleasing as to work from a 3-pointed base from <strong>the</strong> very beginning. It’spoor <strong>for</strong>m to have to hide an unwanted flap, or even to have to make a flapdrastically shorter by folding it in half. In our design, we don’t want to have pointsor flaps that serve no purpose. So, in our design, we should use as much of <strong>the</strong>paper as possible <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> designed parts of <strong>the</strong> figure and have no extra paper leftover.Also, <strong>the</strong> most efficient designs generally have <strong>the</strong> fewest layers, at least, whencompared to designs of comparable complexity. Generally, <strong>the</strong> smaller a shape is,<strong>the</strong> more layers it has. That means that <strong>for</strong> a given size square, <strong>the</strong> base that wedesign should be as large as possible; consequently, <strong>the</strong> size of a unit of length of<strong>the</strong> tree should be maximized.


MA THEMA TICAL ALGORITHMS FOR ORIGAMI DESIGN127Let’s figure <strong>out</strong> how big <strong>the</strong> tree is <strong>for</strong> Figure 10. <strong>The</strong> distance from <strong>the</strong> head to <strong>the</strong>tail is 5 units (2 <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> tail, 2 <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> body, and 1 <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> head). <strong>The</strong> diagonal of asquare is ab<strong>out</strong> 1.4 times <strong>the</strong> side of <strong>the</strong> square, and as I’ve shown, <strong>the</strong> diagonal isequal to 5 tree units; thus one tree unit is 1.4/5 = 0.283 times <strong>the</strong> side of <strong>the</strong> square.This quantity - <strong>the</strong> ratio between a tree unit and <strong>the</strong> side of <strong>the</strong> square - is animportant measure of <strong>the</strong> efficiency of a design, and we’ll call this <strong>the</strong> ’scale’ of <strong>the</strong>crease pattern. <strong>The</strong> larger <strong>the</strong> scale is, <strong>for</strong> a given size square, we get a larger basewith fewer layers, a base that is more efficient and (one hopes) more es<strong>the</strong>ticallypleasing.<strong>The</strong> main problem with <strong>the</strong> arrangement of nodes depicted in Figure 10 is that itdoesn’t work. If you try to fold a lizard using this arrangement, you will find that,although <strong>the</strong> body and tail are easy to make, <strong>the</strong> legs come <strong>out</strong> ra<strong>the</strong>r shorter thanwe intended. In fact, <strong>the</strong> back legs will be almost nonexistent. Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, quite alot of paper at <strong>the</strong> top and bottom corners goes essentially unused. It doesn’t seemright that <strong>the</strong> base comes <strong>out</strong> with <strong>the</strong> wrong proportions and <strong>the</strong>re is unused paperas well! So we can’t just draw <strong>the</strong> tree to scale on <strong>the</strong> square and expect things towork <strong>out</strong>. Obviously, we’re overlooking some crucial concept. <strong>The</strong>re must be someadditional rule to be applied that limits <strong>the</strong> size of <strong>the</strong> tree when it is mapped onto<strong>the</strong> square.Well, of course with all <strong>the</strong> folding that goes on between <strong>the</strong> square and <strong>the</strong> base,<strong>the</strong> tree pattern on <strong>the</strong> square could get ra<strong>the</strong>r distorted. We can establish somelimits on <strong>the</strong> amount of distortion, though. Consider <strong>the</strong> following thoughtexperiment. Suppose an ant wishes to walk from <strong>the</strong> tail of <strong>the</strong> lizard to one of <strong>the</strong>rear feet. On <strong>the</strong> lizard, she starts at <strong>the</strong> tip of <strong>the</strong> tail, walks up <strong>the</strong> tail to <strong>the</strong> flapwhere <strong>the</strong> tail and legs meet, turns, and walks down <strong>the</strong> leg. <strong>The</strong> distance <strong>the</strong> anthas waJked is <strong>the</strong> length of <strong>the</strong> tail plus <strong>the</strong> length of <strong>the</strong> leg, or, as I’ve drawn inFigure 11, a total of 3 units.frontfoottail .......................................2xheadrearfootfrontfootFigure 11: Picture an ant walking from <strong>the</strong> tail to <strong>the</strong> rear leg. She can’t go by <strong>the</strong> shortest r<strong>out</strong>e (as <strong>the</strong>crow flies); instead, she must walk up <strong>the</strong> tail and back down <strong>the</strong> leg, <strong>for</strong> a total of three units.


128R..I. L4NGSuppose that just be<strong>for</strong>e <strong>the</strong> ant set <strong>out</strong>, we dipped her in ink, so that when shewalked, she left a trail of ink soaking through <strong>the</strong> paper. Now we unfold <strong>the</strong> baseand look at <strong>the</strong> various trails left by <strong>the</strong> ant. Since in most <strong>ori</strong>gami bases, each flapconsists of several layers of paper, <strong>the</strong> ant will probably have left several trailsbetween <strong>the</strong> two nodes. Depending on <strong>the</strong> folding pattern <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> base, some of <strong>the</strong>trails might weave around a bit, while o<strong>the</strong>rs go more directly from <strong>the</strong> tail to <strong>the</strong>foot. Several possible trails are shown in Figure 12.frontfoottailfrontfootFigurt 12: Three paths from tail to rear foot.Although we may not know what ground was covered by <strong>the</strong> ant, we do know that<strong>the</strong> ant walked exactly 3 units on <strong>the</strong> tree. If in <strong>the</strong> folded base some paper wasdoubled back on itself, <strong>the</strong>n some of <strong>the</strong> paths on <strong>the</strong> square might be longer than 3units, but no path can be shorter than 3 units. In particular, <strong>the</strong> shortest possible inktrail is <strong>the</strong> one that runs directly between <strong>the</strong> tail node and <strong>the</strong> leg node (trail (b) inFigure 5), and it, too, must be at least 3 units long. Thus, we know that a successfulcrease pattern must have <strong>the</strong> tail node and each leg node separated by a minimumof 3 units.A similar condition exists <strong>for</strong> every possible pair of nodes. If <strong>the</strong> ant goes from <strong>the</strong>tip of <strong>the</strong> tail to <strong>the</strong> tip of <strong>the</strong> head, he travels 2+2+1=5 units; thus <strong>the</strong> tip of <strong>the</strong>tail must be separated from <strong>the</strong> head on <strong>the</strong> square by 5 units. From one front legto <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r is 1+1=2 units, so <strong>the</strong> two front leg nodes must be separated by 2units; and so on and so <strong>for</strong>th.This condition must hold <strong>for</strong> any pair of nodes: <strong>the</strong> distance between two nodes on<strong>the</strong> square must be at least <strong>the</strong> distance between <strong>the</strong> two nodes measured along <strong>the</strong>


MATHEMATICAL ALGORITHMS FOR ORIGAMI DESIGN 129branches of <strong>the</strong> tree. Nodes connected by a single branch must be separated by atleast <strong>the</strong> length of <strong>the</strong> branch; nodes connected by two branches must be separatedby <strong>the</strong> sum of <strong>the</strong> lengths of <strong>the</strong> two branches; and so on, <strong>for</strong> every possible pair ofnodes.Now you see <strong>the</strong> problem with <strong>the</strong> tree structure of Figure 10. <strong>The</strong> way I’ve drawnit, although all nodes connected by a single branch are separated by <strong>the</strong> properamount, <strong>the</strong> shortest path between <strong>the</strong> nodes corresponding to <strong>the</strong> tail and rearlegs is only v~, or ab<strong>out</strong> 2.2 units long, when it should in fact be at least 3 units.<strong>The</strong> same type of shortfall affects <strong>the</strong> paths between <strong>the</strong> front and rear legs. As I’vedrawn <strong>the</strong>m in Figure 10, <strong>the</strong> front and rear feet on one side of <strong>the</strong> body areseparated from each o<strong>the</strong>r by <strong>the</strong> body length, or 2 units; but in fact, <strong>the</strong>y need to beseparated from each o<strong>the</strong>r by 4 units, since our proverbial ant must walk down oneleg, along <strong>the</strong> body, and back <strong>out</strong> <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r leg to go from toe to toe. Similarshortfalls afflict <strong>the</strong> paths between <strong>the</strong> head and front legs, between <strong>the</strong> head andrear legs, between <strong>the</strong> tail and front legs, and between <strong>the</strong> front and back legs.Figure 13 shows all possible paths drawn in on <strong>the</strong> tree and all of <strong>the</strong>ir minimumlengths.Figure t3: Paths and lengths <strong>for</strong> all nodes on <strong>the</strong> lizard tree.In general, many pairs of nodes on <strong>the</strong> square must be far<strong>the</strong>r apart from oneano<strong>the</strong>r than <strong>the</strong>y are ’as <strong>the</strong> crow flies’ on <strong>the</strong> tree. <strong>The</strong>re are two ways we couldovercome this problem. We could keep <strong>the</strong> arrangement of nodes as we have <strong>the</strong>min Figure 11 and multiply all distances by some fixed value. A quick check of allpossible paths shows that <strong>the</strong> paths in Figure 10 in <strong>the</strong> worse shape are <strong>the</strong> onesbetween front and rear legs on one side, which must be separated by 4 units. If wesimply double all distances so that <strong>the</strong> tail node is separated from <strong>the</strong> hip node by 4units, <strong>the</strong> leg nodes are separated from <strong>the</strong> hip nodes by 2 units and so <strong>for</strong>th, <strong>the</strong>n<strong>the</strong> leg nodes are separated from one ano<strong>the</strong>r by <strong>the</strong> required 4 units, and in fact allpairs of nodes meet <strong>the</strong>ir minimum separation requirement.


1.30R..1. L4NGBut doing this means making our tree unit smaller. After scaling down <strong>the</strong> tree by afactor of 2, <strong>the</strong> diagonal of <strong>the</strong> square is 10 tree units long, so that <strong>the</strong> scale of <strong>the</strong>crease pattern has fallen from 0.28 to 0.14.But this is awfully wasteful! Although now <strong>the</strong> path between front and rear legs areequal to <strong>the</strong>ir minimum length, all <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r paths are longer than <strong>the</strong>y have to be,which means that we’ll be wadding up excess paper to get each point down to itsproper length. What we really ought to do is to increage <strong>the</strong> size of a unit andrearrange <strong>the</strong> nodes to allow a larger unit size.Since <strong>the</strong> lizard is a pretty simple shape, it’s easy to see that we can improve <strong>the</strong>design by moving <strong>the</strong> nodes corresponding to <strong>the</strong> feet <strong>out</strong> to <strong>the</strong> edges of <strong>the</strong> squareand, since <strong>the</strong> tail is longer than <strong>the</strong> head, moving <strong>the</strong> rear feet far<strong>the</strong>r from <strong>the</strong> tailcorner than <strong>the</strong> front feet are from <strong>the</strong> head. Figure 14 shows an optimumdistribution of nodes <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> lizard. Even <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> optimum, most of <strong>the</strong> paths turn<strong>out</strong> to be longer than <strong>the</strong>ir allowed minima. (In fact, you have considerably freedomin your placement of <strong>the</strong> nodes corresponding to <strong>the</strong> hips and shoulders.) <strong>The</strong>paths that turn <strong>out</strong> to be <strong>the</strong> limiting paths - which I call <strong>the</strong> ’critical paths’ - are<strong>the</strong> ones from head to <strong>for</strong>elegs, from <strong>for</strong>elegs to rear legs, and from rear legs to tail.I’ve made <strong>the</strong> critical paths heavy in Figure 7. If you work <strong>out</strong> <strong>the</strong> geometry (or justdraw it to scale and measure), you find that one tree unit is (vr3-1-5)/3 times <strong>the</strong>side of <strong>the</strong> square, which works <strong>out</strong> to a scale of 0.189 - smaller than what you getfrom Figure 10, but now it’s foldable. Since we know <strong>the</strong> scale, we can also figure<strong>out</strong> how big <strong>the</strong> final model will be: <strong>the</strong> base we fold from this pattern will make <strong>the</strong>length of each leg ab<strong>out</strong> one-fifth <strong>the</strong> side of <strong>the</strong> square, and from nose to tail, <strong>the</strong>model will be almost as long as <strong>the</strong> side of <strong>the</strong> square.footfrontfoot2footfoot14: An optimum distribution of nodes on <strong>the</strong> square <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> lizard tree.


MA THEhfA TICA]_, ALGORITHMS FOR ORIGAMI DESIGN131Now, we have a crease pattern that satisfies all of <strong>the</strong> criteria we have set so far.Can it really be folded into a base of <strong>the</strong> proportions we have set? <strong>The</strong> answer isyes, it can. Figure 15 shows all <strong>the</strong> creases <strong>for</strong> one of many possible ways to fold thisinto a base. While <strong>the</strong> base itself is probably what you would fold a lizard from, byrepeated box-pleated sinks, you can trans<strong>for</strong>m <strong>the</strong> base into a pretty fairapproximation of <strong>the</strong> stick figure, <strong>the</strong> tree, itself. Of course, you don’t need to gothat far. <strong>The</strong> useful result of this little exercise is <strong>the</strong> second figure in Figure 15; <strong>the</strong>base, which we construct as a byproduct bf folding <strong>the</strong> tree.(b)tatlrearfoot(c)rear 1frontfoot,headfrontfootfront~z-_.l foot2 ~ "~headtail - zrear~" " footfootFigure 15: (a) Crease pattern <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> lizard base. (b) <strong>The</strong> lizard base. (c) By repeatedly sinking <strong>the</strong> lizardbase, you can even make a close approximation of <strong>the</strong> tree.In fact, just as was <strong>the</strong> case with <strong>the</strong> circle method, it can be shown that any patternof nodes you construct according to <strong>the</strong> rules of <strong>the</strong> tree method is foldable into <strong>the</strong>stick figure you started from. What we have here is a rudimentary alg<strong>ori</strong>thm <strong>for</strong>designing a large class of <strong>ori</strong>gami models. Any subject that can be approximated bya tree diagram - a stick figure - can be designed by (1) identifying <strong>the</strong> nodes,paths, and <strong>the</strong>ir lengths on <strong>the</strong> tree; (2) Laying <strong>out</strong> <strong>the</strong> nodes on a square such that<strong>the</strong> distances between any pair of nodes is larger than <strong>the</strong> corresponding path on<strong>the</strong> tree; (3) Folding <strong>the</strong> resulting pattern of nodes into a base. I don’t wish to glossover <strong>the</strong> great difficulty in step 3, of course. This alg<strong>ori</strong>thm gives a skeletal creasepattern, not a folding sequence. That you still have to lind yourself. However, <strong>the</strong>search is always easier if you know <strong>for</strong> certain that <strong>the</strong> answer exists.


R. J. LANG3 SYMMETRY AND THE TREE METHODIf getting <strong>the</strong> right number and length of flaps were all that was needed to make asuccessful <strong>ori</strong>gami model, <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> tree method alg<strong>ori</strong>thm as described abovewould be sufficient to do all <strong>ori</strong>gami design. However, nothing is perfect, and <strong>the</strong>reare some limitations to <strong>the</strong> tree method - some fixable, some not. Although <strong>the</strong>pattern of nodes you get from <strong>the</strong> tree method is guaranteed to be foldable into abase with <strong>the</strong> right number and size of flaps, <strong>the</strong>re is no guarantee that <strong>the</strong> foldingmethod is (a) symmetric, (b) elegant, or (c) obvious. In fact, in many cases, <strong>the</strong> treemethod, applied blindly, leads to wild, asymmetric patterns that don’t give verynice-looking models.For example, if we take a simple 5-node tree corresponding to a 4-legged creature,<strong>the</strong> most efficient skeleton puts <strong>the</strong> four nodes at <strong>the</strong> four corners of <strong>the</strong> square.This crease pattern can be folded into a base in several ways, but one of <strong>the</strong> mostelegant is <strong>the</strong> traditional Bird Base as illustrated in Figure 16. <strong>The</strong> Bird Base isnicely symmetric, both from front-to-back and from side-to-side, and thus it can beused to fold animals that are bilaterally symmetric - animals whose left and righthalves are mirror images of one ano<strong>the</strong>r.ab2 b2 e deFigure 16: Tree, node pattern, and base <strong>for</strong> a base with four equal-length points emanating from acommon point.Now, suppose we want <strong>the</strong> same four flaps in our subject, but we want <strong>the</strong>mseparated by a segment (a body?) one unit long, as illustrated in Figure 17. If youplace <strong>the</strong> nodes on a square and start figuring <strong>out</strong> path lengths, you are <strong>like</strong>ly tofind <strong>the</strong> pattern shown in Figure 17 (or one very similar) as an efficient placementof nodes.<strong>The</strong> pattern in Figure 17 has a scale [scale=(1 unit of tree)/(side of square)] of1/3=0.333. However, this isn’t <strong>the</strong> most efficient node pattern possible. <strong>The</strong> mostefficient distribution of nodes is shown in Figure 18; it has a scale of(vri~-2)/5=0.348, ab<strong>out</strong> 5% larger. This means that <strong>the</strong> base you fold from


MATHEMATICAL ALGORITHMS FOR ORIGAMI DESIGN 133Figure 18 would be 5% larger than <strong>the</strong> base folded from Figure 17 <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> same sizesquare, and thus each flap would contain proportionately less paper.ae~c 1 d~ / bqdFigure 17: Tree and node pattern <strong>for</strong> a base with two pairs of equal-length points separated by a one-unitsegment.dfbFigure 18: <strong>The</strong> most efficient node pattern <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> tree of Figure 17.Efficiency is not <strong>the</strong> same as elegance, however. Although Figure 18 is moreefficient, Figure 17 makes a better <strong>ori</strong>gami animal (that is, if <strong>the</strong>re is an animal <strong>out</strong><strong>the</strong>re with four appendages but no head or tail). Most animals have bilateralsymmetry, but <strong>the</strong> crease pattern in Figure 18 does not. Figure 18 would be verydifficult to fold into a symmetric-appearing base. Now, <strong>for</strong> most <strong>ori</strong>gami designers,starting from a bilaterally-symmetric crease pattern to fold a bilaterally-symmetricbase would come instinctively. But if we are constructing an alg<strong>ori</strong>thm <strong>for</strong> design,<strong>the</strong>n we must build symmetry into <strong>the</strong> alg<strong>ori</strong>thm explicitly. Although <strong>the</strong> mostefficient crease pattern <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> lizard came <strong>out</strong> symmetric, we will not always be solucky. I have found tb.at <strong>the</strong> node patterns <strong>for</strong> more complicated subjects - spiders,sea urchins, mating mosquitoes - usually are asymmetric and inelegant. Forcingsymmetry of <strong>the</strong> crease pattern is an absolute requirement <strong>for</strong> an elegant design.Of course, <strong>the</strong>re are exceptions to every rule. Sometimes you are actually better offusing an asymmetric base, ei<strong>the</strong>r because your subject is inherently asymmetric,such as a fiddler crab, or because <strong>the</strong> asymmetry can be disguised, resulting in a


larger overall base. <strong>The</strong> exception probes <strong>the</strong> rule, but by definition is less common;so we need to en<strong>for</strong>ce symmetry in most cases.<strong>The</strong> symmetry shortfall is remedied by recognizing two special types of nodes -those that come in mirror-image pairs (<strong>like</strong> arms, legs, and feet) and those that liealong a symmetry plane (<strong>like</strong> <strong>the</strong> head, shoulders, hips, and tail). We will requirethat <strong>for</strong> bilaterally symmetric subjects, <strong>the</strong> nodes corresponding to mirror pairs ofappendages must lie symmetrically ab<strong>out</strong> a symmetry line of <strong>the</strong> square. So, <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong>lizard, we would require that <strong>the</strong> node corresponding to <strong>the</strong> left rear foot be <strong>the</strong>mirror image of <strong>the</strong> node corresponding to <strong>the</strong> right rear foot and <strong>the</strong> nodecorresponding to <strong>the</strong> left front foot would be <strong>the</strong> mirror image of <strong>the</strong> nodecorresponding to <strong>the</strong> right front foot.<strong>The</strong>re are also nodes that correspond to body parts that lie along a line of symmetryof <strong>the</strong> subject, and we will simply require that <strong>the</strong>se nodes lie on top of a line ofsymmetry of <strong>the</strong> square.Note that a square has two different types of lines of mirror symmetry - one fromcorner to corner, and one from edge to edge. For <strong>the</strong> same tree structure andassignment of symmetry relationships, <strong>the</strong> two different choices of mirror symmetrywill give different node patterns and consequently, different ways of folding <strong>the</strong>same subject. Figure 15 shows <strong>the</strong> crease pattern <strong>for</strong>m a lizard when we use adiagonal line of symmetry; Figure 19 shows <strong>the</strong> crease pattern <strong>for</strong> a similar lizard,but based on a side-to-side line of symmetry. You might find it interesting to try towork <strong>out</strong> a folding sequence to trans<strong>for</strong>m <strong>the</strong> crease pattern in Figure 19 into abase.(a) rear front (b)foot footrearfoot 3.5 frontfoottail J -’ head tail, headrearfootfrontfootrear 3.5footfrontfoot19: Tree and node pattern <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> lizard with rectangular symmetry.


MA THEMA TICAL ALGORITHMS FOR ORIGAMI DESIGN135Two features of this crease pattern are worthy of note: one is that two of <strong>the</strong>corners go unused, which just goes to show you that even simple figure don’t alwaysuse <strong>the</strong> corners. <strong>The</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r feature is that in Figure 19, <strong>the</strong> path from <strong>the</strong> front footto <strong>the</strong> head is no longer a critical path as it was in Figure 15, which illustrates thatas you change <strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>entation and/or lengths of paths, you need to carefully keeptrack of which paths are critical paths and which are not, because <strong>the</strong>y can change.I mentioned that <strong>the</strong> crease pattern you derive from <strong>the</strong> tree method is guaranteedto be foldable into a base with <strong>the</strong> same number and length of flaps as <strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>ginalstick figure tree. However, this property is only true <strong>for</strong> infinitely thin (zero-width)flaps made with infinitely many creases. When you cut down on <strong>the</strong> number ofcreases to some finite number - and <strong>the</strong> jump from infinity down to six or eight isconsiderable - and let <strong>the</strong> width of <strong>the</strong> flaps become nonzero, you’ll find that someflaps turn <strong>out</strong> shorter than <strong>the</strong>y were ia <strong>the</strong> tree. That is, some of <strong>the</strong> paper thatmight have gone into ’length’ ends up going into ’width’ instead. This situationhappens whenever two flaps lie side-by-side, ra<strong>the</strong>r than one atop <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r.For example, if we were making a base <strong>for</strong> a four-legged animal with two legs on<strong>the</strong> left and two legs on <strong>the</strong> right and no body in between (<strong>like</strong> Figure 17, it’s agedanken animal), we would start with <strong>the</strong> tree and crease pattern shown in Figure16, which would lead to a base very <strong>like</strong> <strong>the</strong> Bird Base, in which <strong>the</strong> four flaps comefrom <strong>the</strong> four corners of <strong>the</strong> square. According to our tree, each flap would <strong>the</strong>n beas long as half <strong>the</strong> side of <strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>ginal square, and indeed, each of <strong>the</strong> four flaps of aBird Base is half as long as <strong>the</strong> side of <strong>the</strong> square from which it is folded.0.35Figure :ZO: Making two symmetric pairs of flaps from a Bird Base.Now, if we want our legs in two side-by-side pairs, <strong>the</strong> Bird Base doesn’t quite work;it has two flaps side-by-side and <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r two one atop <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r. We cantrans<strong>for</strong>m <strong>the</strong> four flaps into two pairs of mirror-symmetric flaps by spread-sinkingtwo corners of <strong>the</strong> Bird Base, as shown in Figure 20. However, when we do this, weget an extra folded edge running across <strong>the</strong> two flaps that shortens <strong>the</strong> gap between<strong>the</strong>m. Because <strong>the</strong> gap has been shortened, <strong>the</strong> ’free length’ of <strong>the</strong> flaps has beenreduced. Instead of being 0.5 times <strong>the</strong> side of a square, <strong>the</strong> flaps turn <strong>out</strong> to be only0.354 of <strong>the</strong> side - a loss of ab<strong>out</strong> 30% of <strong>the</strong>ir length.


1~ ~. L.ANGWe can leng<strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> gap and thus leng<strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> flaps with a little more folding. If Iput twice as many pleats running to <strong>the</strong> tips of <strong>the</strong> flaps, using <strong>the</strong> folding sequenceshown in Figure 21, I can increase <strong>the</strong>ir length to 0.42, at <strong>the</strong> expense of doubling<strong>the</strong> number of layers, halving <strong>the</strong> width of <strong>the</strong> flaps, and adding a whole lot morefolding. You can recover more of <strong>the</strong> gap by using more and more petal folds andnarrower and narrower flaps, but only in <strong>the</strong> limit of infinitely many pleats (and aninfinite number of layers) do you recover <strong>the</strong> full length of <strong>the</strong> flaps.I0.42Figure 21: Making <strong>the</strong> gap deeper, at <strong>the</strong> expense of narrowing <strong>the</strong> flaps and introducing a lot morecreases and layers.This situation will always occur when you want two flaps to lie side-by-side, asopposed to one atop <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r (note that <strong>the</strong> two flaps in each pair on one side of<strong>the</strong> Bird Base are separated from each ano<strong>the</strong>r by <strong>the</strong> proper amount). <strong>The</strong> way toavoid having to do all of this back-and <strong>for</strong>th folding is <strong>for</strong> any pair of flaps that willwind up side-by-side, you add a little extra paper between <strong>the</strong>m. In o<strong>the</strong>r words, youincrease <strong>the</strong> minimum length associated with <strong>the</strong> path between that pair of flaps.<strong>The</strong> amount you must add depends on how many back-and-<strong>for</strong>th pleats you arewilling to tolerate; typically, extending <strong>the</strong> path by ab<strong>out</strong> 40% will do <strong>the</strong> trick <strong>for</strong> asingle back-and-<strong>for</strong>th pleat.But, you’re not ready to place paths yet. After you have placed all <strong>the</strong> nodes andleng<strong>the</strong>ned some paths, you may find that paths that correspond to importantcreases are <strong>ori</strong>ented at angles close to natural symmetry lines - i.e., at multiples of30 ° or 22.5* - but aren’t precisely at those symmetry lines. For es<strong>the</strong>tic reasons -


MATHEMATICAL ALGORITHMS FOR ORIGAMI DESIGN 137to avoid long, skinny crimps - it may be desirable to require those paths to lieexactly along <strong>the</strong> natural symmetry lines, even at <strong>the</strong> expense of a small decrease inefficiency. Thus, some of <strong>the</strong> nodes will have to be constrained to lie at certainangles with respect to one ano<strong>the</strong>r.Also <strong>for</strong> reasons of es<strong>the</strong>tics, you might want to insure that a particular node landsin a particular place on <strong>the</strong> square. For example, <strong>the</strong> most efficient crease patternmight put a particular node in <strong>the</strong> interior of <strong>the</strong> paper, whereas you might want<strong>the</strong> node to land on an edge or corner so that it has fewer layers.4 A NUMERICAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TREEALGORITHMBy <strong>the</strong> time you have drawn and labeled <strong>the</strong> tree, enumerated all of <strong>the</strong> paths andcalculated <strong>the</strong>ir lengths, and noted which nodes need to lie symmetrically, andextended some of <strong>the</strong> paths, and <strong>for</strong>ced some paths to run at certain angles and<strong>for</strong>ced some nodes to lie on <strong>the</strong> edges of <strong>the</strong> square and so <strong>for</strong>th and so on, thingscan get pretty complicated. <strong>The</strong> biggest difficulty with applying <strong>the</strong> tree method ofdesign is keeping track of all of <strong>the</strong> different paths and <strong>the</strong> constraints associatedwith each path. If <strong>the</strong> tree has N nodes, <strong>the</strong>re are N(N- 1)/2 different paths betweenpairs of nodes, each of which has a specific minimum length. <strong>The</strong> lizard, which has8 nodes, has 28 paths! However, you really only need to keep track of <strong>the</strong> criticalpaths - <strong>the</strong> paths that are at <strong>the</strong>ir minimum length - and <strong>the</strong>re are only six ofthose in <strong>the</strong> lizard.<strong>The</strong> problem with complicated models is that as you try <strong>out</strong> different arrangementsof <strong>the</strong> nodes, some paths stop being critical paths and o<strong>the</strong>r paths become criticalpaths. In addition, you must also keep track of which nodes lie symmetrically withrespect to one ano<strong>the</strong>r, and which paths you have extended <strong>the</strong> length of. This canget very difficult <strong>for</strong> a person to keep track of, and it is very easy to work <strong>out</strong> adesign, only to discover that you overlooked a critical path somewhere in <strong>the</strong> crisscrossingnetwork of paths that doesn’t meet its minimum length requirement andthrows your entire design off.Ah, but what is difficult <strong>for</strong> a person to keep track of is a snap <strong>for</strong> a computer. <strong>The</strong>tree method of <strong>ori</strong>gami design that I have described above can be ma<strong>the</strong>matically<strong>for</strong>malized and implemented as a computer alg<strong>ori</strong>thm. <strong>The</strong> alg<strong>ori</strong>thm is simple:You do this to define <strong>the</strong> shape:(1) Define a set of N nodes and <strong>the</strong> N-1 branches that connect <strong>the</strong>m. Define <strong>the</strong>lengths of all of <strong>the</strong> branches. Give each node a set of coordinates on a square.(This is <strong>the</strong> setup input to <strong>the</strong> computer program.)


(2) Define a quantity called <strong>the</strong> ’scale’, which is <strong>the</strong> length of a 1-unit branch on <strong>the</strong>square. Assign each node a pair of coordinates on <strong>the</strong> square. (This is an initialguess at <strong>the</strong> tree structure, which can be arbitrarily chosen.)You do this to find <strong>the</strong> crease pattern:(2) Construct all of <strong>the</strong> N(N- 1)/2 possible paths between pairs of nodes and <strong>the</strong>irlengths.(3) Maximize <strong>the</strong> scale subject to <strong>the</strong> following constraints:(a) <strong>The</strong> length of each path on <strong>the</strong> square must be greater than or equal toits length measured along <strong>the</strong> tree.(b) <strong>The</strong> coordinates of all of <strong>the</strong> nodes must lie within <strong>the</strong> square.(c) Nodes that lie on a symmetry line of <strong>the</strong> tree must lie on a symmetryline of <strong>the</strong> square.(d) Nodes that are mirror-image pairs with each o<strong>the</strong>r on <strong>the</strong> tree must bemirror images of each o<strong>the</strong>r with respect to <strong>the</strong> symmetry line of <strong>the</strong>square.(e) Paths close to natural symmetry lines of <strong>the</strong> square must lie exactly at<strong>the</strong> angles of those symmetry lines.To computerize this alg<strong>ori</strong>thm, <strong>the</strong> verbal description of <strong>the</strong> alg<strong>ori</strong>thm needs to beconverted to ma<strong>the</strong>matical equations. I define x i and Yi as <strong>the</strong> Cartesian coordinatesof <strong>the</strong> ith node, define lij as <strong>the</strong> length (in units) of <strong>the</strong> path between nodes i andj asmeasured along <strong>the</strong> tree, define m as my scale factor, and define <strong>the</strong> coordinates ofmy square as lying between -1 and +1 on each axis. <strong>The</strong> problem becomes:Maximize rn over <strong>the</strong> variables x i andyi subject to <strong>the</strong> constraints:(a)(b)(xi -x~’) 2 + (Yi _y~)2 >_m2[2ij <strong>for</strong>alli, jx i_ -1, ~__-i <strong>for</strong> alli(c) YiCOSa - ~sin. = 0, <strong>for</strong> each node i that lies on a symmetry line at anglewith respect to <strong>the</strong> x axis.(d) (x i - xj)co,sot - (Yi - Yj )sin. = 0, (x~ + ~j. )sinot + (Yi + Y~ ) cos. = 0 <strong>for</strong>two nodes i and j that are symmetric ab<strong>out</strong> a line at angle, with respect to <strong>the</strong> xaxis.(e) (Yi - y~)cosa - (x. - :~ )sin. = 0 <strong>for</strong> a path between two nodes i andj thatlies at angle a with respect to <strong>the</strong>x axis.


MATHEMATICAL ALGORITHMS FOR ORIGAMI DESIGN 139This is a problem of constrained optimization. In fact, it would be a fairly simpleproblem in linear programming, if it weren’t <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> presence of <strong>the</strong> quadraticterms in letter (a) above. <strong>The</strong>re is no algebraic solution to this system of equations,but <strong>the</strong> numerical techniques <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> solution of such systems have been known <strong>for</strong>years. In <strong>the</strong> early 1970s, several workers contributed <strong>the</strong>ir ef<strong>for</strong>ts and subsequently<strong>the</strong>ir names to <strong>the</strong> development of a powerful technique <strong>for</strong> solving generalnonlinear constrained optimizations, known as <strong>the</strong> Powell-Hestenes-RockafellerAugmented Lagrangian Multiplier alg<strong>ori</strong>thm (Rockafeller, 1973).Several months ago, I wrote a computer code that takes a description of a tree,constructs <strong>the</strong> equations in (a)-(e) above, solves <strong>for</strong> a local optimum, and displays<strong>the</strong> resulting skeletal crease pattern. <strong>The</strong> program is called TreeMaker, and itper<strong>for</strong>ms quite well. I’ve now used TreeMaker to design a number of non-trivialmodels, as well as to work <strong>out</strong> <strong>the</strong> examples presented in this series. Nowadmittedly, <strong>the</strong> lizard that I used through<strong>out</strong> this series was a pretty simple model,and using a computer program to design it might seem <strong>like</strong> overkill. While simplemodels can be worked <strong>out</strong> entirely by hand, I have found that <strong>for</strong> complex subjects,<strong>the</strong> computer can find and evaluate efficient crease patterns much faster than I canby hand., including crease patterns that are not obvious to <strong>the</strong> unaided eye. In <strong>the</strong>next section, I’ll illustrate <strong>the</strong> design process <strong>for</strong> a challenging model - an insectwith legs, jaws, and antennae - and end with <strong>the</strong> final folding sequence <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong>design.5 A CASE STUDY IN ORIGAMI DESIGNI’ve always had a fascination <strong>for</strong> insects as <strong>ori</strong>gami subjects. For many years, mostinsects were considered too difficult to be realized in any but <strong>the</strong> most stylized <strong>for</strong>m(or were realized with cuts and/or multiple sheets of paper). However, with <strong>the</strong>revolutions in modern <strong>ori</strong>gami design, insects have become commonplace. In<strong>ori</strong>gami, a six-legged, two-winged insect is no longer a challenge; it must have jaws,antenna, multiple color-changed wings, or something else to make it rise above <strong>the</strong>merely ordinary. Insects, with <strong>the</strong>ir skinny, jointed, multi-pointed bodies, areperfect candidates <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> tree method - and thus, <strong>for</strong> computerized design.<strong>The</strong> insect I chose to make <strong>for</strong> this article was a stag beetle, a beetle with six legs,jaws, and antennae, <strong>for</strong> a total of ten flaps. I decided to make <strong>the</strong> jaws and antennaesomewhat shorter than <strong>the</strong> legs and to have <strong>the</strong>m emanate from <strong>the</strong> head. I put <strong>the</strong>legs emanating from <strong>the</strong> thorax along with <strong>the</strong> abdomen, and make <strong>the</strong> abdomensomewhat longer than <strong>the</strong> legs, to give myself some extra paper to make a roundbody and/or pleated wings. This choice of subject also gives me an opportunity tocompare man and machine; I already invented a stag beetle several years ago (it isincluded in my upcoming book, Origami lnsects (Lang, 1994), and is shown inFigure 22. It will be interesting to see if TreeMaker can come up with a betterdesign.


140 R. J. LANGFigure 22: An <strong>ori</strong>gami stag beetle.<strong>The</strong> first step in a design is to take <strong>the</strong> subject we are working from and convert itinto a stick figure - <strong>the</strong> tree. Figure 23 shows a drawing of a real stag beetle and<strong>the</strong> tree that represents it. I have some choice in how I construct <strong>the</strong> tree. I’vealready specified that I want jaws and antennae, and of course I need six legscoming from <strong>the</strong> thorax. If I were being really daring, I could put separate wings onas well, but since beetles almost always keep <strong>the</strong>ir wings and elytra (<strong>for</strong>ewings)folded over <strong>the</strong>ir body, we’ll allocate a single flap to represent <strong>the</strong> wings andabdomen, and will plan on trying to suggest both features with pleats, crimps, ando<strong>the</strong>r detail folds.Figure 23: A real stag beetle and its equivalent stick figure, or ’tree’.Now we need to assign lengths to <strong>the</strong> branches of <strong>the</strong> tree. On <strong>the</strong> real beetle,although each member of a pair of appendages are <strong>the</strong> same length, each pair -jaws, antennae, <strong>for</strong>elegs, midlegs, hind legs - is a slightly different length. When we


MATHEMATICAL ALGORITHMS FOR ORIGAMI DESIGN 141make an <strong>ori</strong>gami base, however, if all of <strong>the</strong> flaps are different lengths, <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong>y’llall be slightly different widths where <strong>the</strong>y join <strong>the</strong> body and each o<strong>the</strong>r. <strong>The</strong>sedifferences translate into lots of little crimps (if you’re careful) or little bodges (ifyou’re not) to make <strong>the</strong> model lie fiat; <strong>the</strong>re will also undoubtedly be lots ofmisaligned edges. A base with lots of crimps, bodges, and misaligned edges looksmessy, and a messy base makes a messy subject and a messy folding sequence. Tokeep <strong>the</strong> base and <strong>the</strong> folding sequence neat, it helps to make edges line up wi<strong>the</strong>ach o<strong>the</strong>r whenever possible. Thus, we will stipulate that flaps that areapproximately <strong>the</strong> same size on <strong>the</strong> subject should be exactly <strong>the</strong> same length on <strong>the</strong>base. For our stag beetle, we’ll make <strong>the</strong> six legs all <strong>the</strong> same length and make <strong>the</strong>jaws and antenna <strong>the</strong> same length as each o<strong>the</strong>r but a little shorter than <strong>the</strong> legs.We still need to quantify <strong>the</strong> lengths of <strong>the</strong> appendages. If we are trying to make anexact copy of <strong>the</strong> beetle in <strong>the</strong> photo, we could measure each leg, jaw, and antennain <strong>the</strong> photo and assign that length to <strong>the</strong> corresponding branch of <strong>the</strong> tree, butthat is a ra<strong>the</strong>r brute-<strong>for</strong>ce approach. Besides, it overlooks something: it is notenough just to find some folding sequence to make <strong>the</strong> base; we want to find anelegant folding sequence. ’Elegance’ is a hard-to-define concept; it’s easier todescribe than to define. An elegant folding sequence is one in which all <strong>the</strong> foldsflow naturally from one step to <strong>the</strong> next and <strong>the</strong> edges and creases line up with oneano<strong>the</strong>r. An elegant model is one in which <strong>the</strong> lines are simple and clean. Elegantfolding sequences arise when <strong>the</strong> creases and <strong>the</strong> base arise from naturalsymmetries of <strong>the</strong> paper. While TreeMaker will find <strong>the</strong> most efficient creasepattern <strong>for</strong> any given tree, it is up to <strong>the</strong> designer to pick <strong>the</strong> tree that best exploits<strong>the</strong> natural symmetries of <strong>the</strong> paper.And one of <strong>the</strong> ways in which natural symmetries appear is in certain combinationsof distances and lengths. Most <strong>ori</strong>gami - and in my opinion, <strong>the</strong> most elegantfolding sequences - arise from exploitation of <strong>the</strong> symmetries associated with anangle of 22.5 °, which is 1/16 of a unit circle. This angle (and multiples <strong>the</strong>reof) showup repeatedly in elegant <strong>ori</strong>gami bases, as illustrated in Figure 24 in <strong>the</strong> four’classic’ bases (<strong>the</strong> Kite, Fish, Bird, and Frog Bases).Along with this ubiquitous angle, <strong>the</strong>re are ubiquitous distances, which are variousalgebraic combinations of integers and <strong>the</strong> number d;2. If you unfold a model basedon <strong>the</strong> symmetries of 22.5 ° and calculate <strong>the</strong> lengths of <strong>the</strong> major creases, you’ll findthat most of <strong>the</strong> distances work <strong>out</strong> to simple combinations of 1, 2, and d2, asshown in Figure 25.


Figure 24: <strong>The</strong> four classic bases -- Kite, Fish, Bird, and Frog base. <strong>The</strong> angle between any two creases isa multiple of 22.5 °.Figure 2,5: Typical distances to be found in crease patterns based on <strong>the</strong> 22.5 ° symmetry.Since in symmetric, elegant crease patterns <strong>the</strong> same distances show up over andover, if we want our crease pattern to be symmetric and elegant, it makes sense to


MATHEMATICAL ALGORITHMS FOR ORIGAMI DESIGN 143use <strong>the</strong> distances that we know will already be present. Conversely, if we use strangevalues <strong>for</strong> distances, values that don’t correspond to 22.5 ° symmetries, it’s going tobe really hard to find a folding method that results in an elegant base. We are more<strong>like</strong>ly to find a symmetric base if we express all <strong>the</strong> dimensions in terms of’symmetric’ distances.This is really not so hard to do, because <strong>the</strong>re are a lot of symmetric distances tochoose from. It turns <strong>out</strong> that <strong>for</strong> any ideal distance, <strong>the</strong>re is an symmetric distancewith nearly <strong>the</strong> same value. For example, Figure 26 displays <strong>the</strong> algebraic <strong>for</strong>m ofall <strong>the</strong> distances shown in Figure 25, along with <strong>the</strong>ir decimal value and <strong>for</strong>comparison, a line whose length is proportional to that value. No matter whatlength a given flap or appendage is, you can find a symmetric distance that differsfrom <strong>the</strong> target by only a few percent. Figure 26 is an incomplete list of symmetricdistances associated with <strong>the</strong> 22.5 ° symmetries - <strong>the</strong>re is a whole o<strong>the</strong>r family ofdistances associated with multiples of 15 ° - but you can extend this list to largerand smaller values simply by multiplying or dividing by factors of 2. Any numericalvalue you choose lies fairly close to one of <strong>the</strong>se significant lengths.Algebraic Decimal Linear~ 1.414(1+~/2)/2 1.2071 1.000(3-~/~)/2 0.793(1/~ 0.7072-’~ 0.5861/2 0.500"~-1 0.4141-1/~- 0.293(~--1)/2 0.207Figure 26: Distanc~ found in <strong>the</strong> eightfold (22.5 °) symmetry. <strong>The</strong> first column is <strong>the</strong> algebraic <strong>for</strong>mula<strong>for</strong> a length; <strong>the</strong> second is its decimal value; and <strong>the</strong> third shows a line segment proportional to <strong>the</strong>length.So <strong>for</strong> our <strong>ori</strong>gami stag beetle, we will choose flap lengths that correspond tointeresting lengths. We will define our legs to be 1 unit long each; <strong>the</strong> jaws andantenna are slightly smaller, so we’ll choose a length of 1/v~=0.707 <strong>for</strong> those. <strong>The</strong>abdomen should be somewhat longer than <strong>the</strong> legs, to give us some extra paper <strong>for</strong>crimps and pleats to <strong>for</strong>m <strong>the</strong> wings and/or body segments; we’ll make it d’2= 1.414units long. Finally, we need a short segment between <strong>the</strong> thorax and <strong>the</strong> head, sothat <strong>the</strong> jaws and antennae don’t come from <strong>the</strong> same part of <strong>the</strong> model as <strong>the</strong> sixlegs (o<strong>the</strong>rwise, we could just use <strong>the</strong> circle method). This short segment will be


144R.J. LANGd-2-1=0.414 units long. We now have completely defined <strong>the</strong> target tree <strong>for</strong> ourdesign ef<strong>for</strong>ts.Now that we have defined our tree, we could start enumerating paths andcalculating <strong>the</strong>ir lengths, but since our tree has 13 nodes, <strong>the</strong>re are 78 possiblepaths between nodes that must be considered, which is a lot to try to keep track of.So I will turn now to describe <strong>the</strong> use of my TreeMaker computer program.TreeMaker has a point-and-click user interface that allows you to enter a treestructure by clicking on a square to create nodes and branches, clicking anddragging to shift <strong>the</strong>m around, and double-clicking on nodes and branches tochange <strong>the</strong>ir properties. <strong>The</strong> tree as I entered it is shown in Figure 27. TreeMakerallows you to name nodes with <strong>the</strong> part of <strong>the</strong> subject <strong>the</strong>y correspond to anddisplays <strong>the</strong> lengths of branches, so I’ve shown those numbers and names <strong>for</strong> clarity.left jawright jawleftfightantennafightleftbackleg1.4 t4fightbackleg, abdomenFigure 27: <strong>The</strong> tree I~or a stag beetle, superimposed over a square. <strong>The</strong> numbers are <strong>the</strong> desired lengthsof <strong>the</strong> branches; <strong>the</strong> names identify which part of <strong>the</strong> subject corresponds to each node.To give you an idea of <strong>the</strong> complexity of this model that has 13 nodes and 78 paths,I’ve shown all 78 paths in Figure 28, each represented by a straight line. Every linecorresponds to a constraint on <strong>the</strong> distance between two nodes. Now, if you or Iwere working this design <strong>out</strong> by hand, we would figure <strong>out</strong> which paths are <strong>the</strong>important ones and which could be ignored, but <strong>the</strong> computer is not so clever, andneeds to consider <strong>the</strong>m all.


MATHEMATICAL ALGORITHMS FOR ORIGAMI DESIGN 145Figure 28: Every possible path between two nodes is represented by a line. <strong>The</strong>re are 78 total pathsbetween <strong>the</strong> 13 nodes.Once we have set up nodes and branches, <strong>the</strong> computer calculates all possible pathsand <strong>the</strong> minimum length of each path. To find a possible arrangement of nodes, <strong>the</strong>computer needs to optimize (find <strong>the</strong> maximum value of) <strong>the</strong> scale of <strong>the</strong> tree whileinsuring that all paths meet <strong>the</strong>ir minimum distance constraints. At this point, wecould just tell <strong>the</strong> computer to go through its optimization process. TreeMakerarrives at <strong>the</strong> following arrangement of nodes:leftaw fight jaw right front legright5 middlelegleftfrontleg/ / /abdomen~8Figure 29: A node pattern that satisfies all of <strong>the</strong> path constraints <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> tree. <strong>The</strong> circles identify <strong>the</strong>terminal nodes of <strong>the</strong> tree. <strong>The</strong> scale is 0.2012.


146This first go-around was certainly less than successful. One back leg is a middleflap; <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r is an edge flap. One jaw is a corner flap; <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r is an edge flap.<strong>The</strong> head is twisted way around to <strong>the</strong> right. Folding this crease pattern into a basewould be a nightmare. Ab<strong>out</strong> <strong>the</strong> only positive thing I can say is that <strong>the</strong> scale - <strong>the</strong>length of one unit compared to <strong>the</strong> size of <strong>the</strong> square - is a very respectable 0.2012,meaning that <strong>the</strong> length of a leg is ab<strong>out</strong> 1/5 of <strong>the</strong> length of <strong>the</strong> side of <strong>the</strong> square.Never<strong>the</strong>less, <strong>the</strong>re is no symmetry, no rhyme or reason, and most importantly, noeasy or obvious way to fold this crease pattern into a base! So <strong>the</strong> first <strong>for</strong>ay intocomputerized design is with<strong>out</strong> doubt, a failure.Well, maybe not quite a complete failure. We haven’t yet imposed any symmetryrequirements, and lack of symmetry is <strong>the</strong> main problem with <strong>the</strong> node pattern inFigure 29. We need <strong>the</strong> legs, jaws and antennae to be mirror images of each o<strong>the</strong>rwith respect to a symmetry line of <strong>the</strong> square - and <strong>the</strong>y aren’t in Figure 29. Wealso need <strong>the</strong> head, thorax, and abdomen to lie directly on top of <strong>the</strong> symmetry line,since <strong>the</strong>y lie on <strong>the</strong> symmetry line of <strong>the</strong> subject. Since <strong>the</strong> shape in Figure 28 is<strong>ori</strong>ented roughly along <strong>the</strong> diagonal, let’s choose <strong>the</strong> diagonal of <strong>the</strong> square to beour line of symmetry. TreeMaker allows you to select ei<strong>the</strong>r a diagonal or arectangular line of mirror symmetry <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> square, to constrain individual nodes tolie on <strong>the</strong> symmetry line and to <strong>for</strong>ce pairs of nodes to be mirror images of eacho<strong>the</strong>r ab<strong>out</strong> <strong>the</strong> symmetry line. So, when we establish <strong>the</strong>se symmetry requirementsand restart <strong>the</strong> optimization, we arrive at <strong>the</strong> node pattern shown in Figure 30. Thispattern has a scale of 0.1853. <strong>The</strong> scaled has decreased by ab<strong>out</strong> 8%, which meansthat <strong>the</strong> base folded from this crease pattern will be ab<strong>out</strong> 8% smaller than <strong>the</strong> basefolded from <strong>the</strong> crease pattern in Figure 28. But <strong>the</strong> pattern in Figure 30 is more<strong>like</strong>ly to be foldable into a symmetric base and thus a symmetric model, and so <strong>the</strong>small decrease in scale is an acceptable price to pay.13 54 2Figure 30: Optimized node pattern <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> stag beetle with mirror symmet~ invoked. <strong>The</strong> scale is 0.1853.


MA THEMA TICAL ALGORITHMS FOR ORIGAMI DESIGN147<strong>The</strong>re is one o<strong>the</strong>r chore be<strong>for</strong>e us; if we wish our finished base to be flattenedfrom top to bottom (as is <strong>the</strong> beetle in Figure 22), <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> legs come in side-bysidepairs. To avoid having to make infinitely many pleats between <strong>the</strong>m, we needto allocate some extra paper by extending <strong>the</strong> paths between mirror pairs of legsand iaws. To keep <strong>the</strong> back-and-<strong>for</strong>th folding to a minimum, I’d <strong>like</strong> to use a singleback-and-<strong>for</strong>th pleat between <strong>the</strong> legs, such as is accomplished in <strong>the</strong> Frog Base bypetal-folding an edge. For this petal fold, <strong>the</strong> distance between <strong>the</strong> two flaps mustbe ::~ times as long as <strong>the</strong> minimum path, so between side-by-side pairs of legs, I’llneed to extend each path by a factor vr2. Just as you could edit individual nodes,TreeMaker lets you edit individual paths and to increase <strong>the</strong> minimum separationbetween node pairs. We do this <strong>for</strong> each pair of mirror flaps, increasing <strong>the</strong>separation between <strong>the</strong> jaws from 1.414 to 2.000, between <strong>the</strong> antennae from 1.414to 2.000, and between pairs of legs from 2.000 to 2.828. After bumping up <strong>the</strong>sepaths, I re-optimize. <strong>The</strong> scale has decreased from 0.1853 to 0.1775, which is stillnot a large decrease, but <strong>the</strong> resulting pattern, shown in Figure 31 is now closer tosomething that can conceivably be folded into an elegant base.Figure 31: Opttmized node pattern <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> stage beetle with mirror symmetry and path extensionsbetween side-by-side flaps. <strong>The</strong> scale is 0.1775.But wait - <strong>the</strong>re’s more. <strong>The</strong> crease pattern shown in Figure 31 can in principle befolded into a beetle, but I doubt that <strong>the</strong> folding sequence is very clean or elegant"because <strong>the</strong> major crease lines are running at irregular angles. Not only do we wantour distances to be symmetric; we want <strong>the</strong> angles of major creases also to lie atmultiples of 22.5 ° whenever possible. Thus, we need to set some more constraintsthat <strong>for</strong>ce paths to lie at multiples of 22.5 ° . We can’t <strong>for</strong>ce all <strong>the</strong> paths to <strong>the</strong> sameangles, though; just <strong>the</strong> ones that correspond to major creases of <strong>the</strong> base.


Forcing paths to lie at particular angles is ano<strong>the</strong>r capability of TreeMaker. For anygiven path, <strong>the</strong>re are 8 possible multiples of 22.5 ° to set <strong>the</strong> angle to, but you mightguess that you’ll perturb <strong>the</strong> crease pattern <strong>the</strong> least by looking <strong>for</strong> paths betweenadjacent nodes that are nearly at multiples of 22.5 ° and setting <strong>the</strong>m to <strong>the</strong> nearestmultiple. If I do this <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> paths marked in Figure 31 and again re-optimize, I find<strong>the</strong> following crease pattern in Figure 32, which is more nicely symmetric, andwhich has a scale of 0.1726.Figure 32: Optimized node pattern <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> stag beetle with mirror symmetry, path extensions, andangular constraints. <strong>The</strong> scale is 0.1726.It’s interesting; each time we add some more constraints, <strong>the</strong> scale, and thus <strong>the</strong>size of <strong>the</strong> model, gets reduced. That is, we are trading off folding efficiency <strong>for</strong>folding elegance. This is an es<strong>the</strong>tic judgment, and requires <strong>the</strong> active participationof <strong>the</strong> designer. Computer programs <strong>like</strong> TreeMaker can simplify aspects of<strong>ori</strong>gami design, but <strong>the</strong>y are no substitute <strong>for</strong> good design sense.In fact, it might even be considered a bit of a stretch to .say that TreeMaker is’designing’ <strong>the</strong> base. It isn’t so much creating a useful arrangement of nodes as it iseliminating <strong>the</strong> enormous number of useless ones. For 13 nodes, <strong>the</strong>re are 27degrees of freedom in <strong>the</strong> placement of <strong>the</strong> nodes on <strong>the</strong> square (two coordinates<strong>for</strong> each node plus <strong>the</strong> scale~. A given configuration of nodes and scale can bedescribed by a single point in a 27-dimensional space. <strong>The</strong> various constraints onpath distances and angles can be written as equations that subdivide <strong>the</strong> 27-dimensional space into spheroidal regions of feasibility (<strong>for</strong> inequalities) orspheroidal surfaces (<strong>for</strong> equalities). <strong>The</strong> combination of all of <strong>the</strong> equations definean incredibly convoluted hyperdimensional blob of feasible space over which <strong>the</strong>scale - <strong>the</strong> merit function - varies in value, and all we are doing is looking <strong>for</strong>


MATHEMATICAL ALGORITHMS FOR ORIGAMI DESIGN 149those flaps with <strong>the</strong> maximum value of <strong>the</strong> scale. <strong>The</strong> convolution of <strong>the</strong> surfaceimplies that <strong>the</strong>re are numerous local minima on <strong>the</strong> surface and <strong>the</strong>re is noguaranteed r<strong>out</strong>ine <strong>for</strong> finding a global minimum. Just because we found <strong>the</strong> bestconfiguration of nodes from a given starting point, a different starting point mightgive us an even more efficient arrangement of nodes!So, one new starting point we might try is to move <strong>the</strong> abdomen into <strong>the</strong> center of<strong>the</strong> paper, ra<strong>the</strong>r than using a corner <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> abdomen. This would have <strong>the</strong> effectof moving <strong>the</strong> legs closer to <strong>the</strong> corner opposite <strong>the</strong> head, but exactly what else isnot clear until we re-optimize TreeMaker. This starting point gives <strong>the</strong> creasepattern shown in Figure 33, which has a slightly larger scale of 0.1745, and wouldgive a barely larger base than <strong>the</strong> pattern of Figure 22. Significantly, <strong>the</strong> creasepattern to trans<strong>for</strong>m Figure 33 into a base would in all <strong>like</strong>lihood be entirelydifferent from <strong>the</strong> pattern <strong>for</strong> Figure 22! Thus, simply by starting from a differentinitial configuration, you can discover entirely new ways of folding existing subjectssimply by moving <strong>the</strong> initial distribution of nodes around.Flgur~ 33: Node pattern with <strong>the</strong> abdomen in <strong>the</strong> center. <strong>The</strong> scale is 0.1745.Figure 33 has one o<strong>the</strong>r nice feature compared to Figure 32; all of <strong>the</strong> legs come<strong>out</strong> as edge flaps in Figure 33, whereas two of <strong>the</strong> legs are middle flaps in Figure 32.For an insect, we want <strong>the</strong> legs to be as thin as possible, and <strong>the</strong> extra thickness in amiddle flap might be something to be avoided. (<strong>The</strong>n again, it might not; I know alot of good insect designs that use middle flaps <strong>for</strong> legs.) If we start with Figure 32,<strong>for</strong>ce all of <strong>the</strong> legs to lie on <strong>the</strong> boundary of <strong>the</strong> square and set angles that are near45 ° to exactly 45 °, we get <strong>the</strong> crease pattern shown in Figure 34, which has a scale of0.1715, still smaller than any of <strong>the</strong> preceding patterns, but acceptable.


1~o ~ ]. L4NGFigure 34: Node pattern <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> stag beetle with all legs constrained to lie on <strong>the</strong> edge of <strong>the</strong> square. <strong>The</strong>scale is 0.1715.We might also wish <strong>the</strong> jaws to be edge flaps and allow <strong>the</strong> legs to be middle flaps.This constraint, plus a few angular constraints gives <strong>the</strong> very symmetric creasepattern shown in Figure 35. Not only are all <strong>the</strong> major creases at 45 °, but <strong>the</strong> centerof <strong>the</strong> paper is an intersection of two important creases. <strong>The</strong> scale has decreasedfur<strong>the</strong>r, to 0.167, almost precisely 1/6 of <strong>the</strong> side of <strong>the</strong> square.Figure 35: (Left) Node pattern <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> stag beetle with all jaws constrained to lie on <strong>the</strong> edge and with<strong>the</strong> antenna and two legs on each side constrained to a 45* line. <strong>The</strong> scale is 0.1665. (Right) Resultingstag beetle.


MATHEMATICAL ALGORITHMS FOR OR1GAMI DESIGN 151In fact, to my taste, Figure 35 is too symmetric. For years, <strong>ori</strong>gami designs weremade from bases such as <strong>the</strong> Bird and Frog base that are four-fold symmetric ab<strong>out</strong><strong>the</strong> center of <strong>the</strong> square, which always resulted in a single thick flap somewhere in<strong>the</strong> model - a waste of paper, and a waste of symmetry. Only in rare circumstancedoes a four-fold symmetric base make a good match to a two-fold symmetricsubject. <strong>The</strong> crease pattern shown in Figure 35 can be folded into <strong>the</strong> ra<strong>the</strong>r stubbystag beetle shown in Figure 35 - you might wish to try to work <strong>out</strong> a foldingsequence - but <strong>the</strong> sequence I found is ra<strong>the</strong>r predictable, and is four-foldsymmetric <strong>for</strong> much of <strong>the</strong> sequence.Of course, we could try something completely different by trying <strong>the</strong> alternate lineof symmetry - that is, <strong>ori</strong>enting <strong>the</strong> model along an axis parallel to <strong>the</strong> side of <strong>the</strong>square, ra<strong>the</strong>r than along <strong>the</strong> diagonal. Setting this line as our symmetry line,optimizing, and <strong>for</strong>cing a few major crease lines to verticals results in <strong>the</strong> followingintriguing crease pattern, which clearly has a 30 ° symmetry built in. It also has ascale of 0.1808, <strong>the</strong> largest of any of <strong>the</strong> crease patterns we have examined so far.Figure 36: Node pattern <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> stag beetle with rectangular symmetiy and path angle constraints. <strong>The</strong>scale is 0.1808.Now, all of <strong>the</strong>se crease patterns can be folded into a stag beetle, and <strong>the</strong> mostinteresting folding sequence <strong>for</strong> each is going to be very different from <strong>the</strong>sequence <strong>for</strong> any of <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r crease patterns. So right here we have <strong>the</strong> beginningsof five or six new models. Of course, <strong>the</strong> question of how you develop a foldingsequence that takes a crease pattern to a base is no small matter, and is in factworthy of an entire set of articles in its own right. Setting aside <strong>the</strong> issue of how youfold up a crease pattern into <strong>the</strong> base, though, you see <strong>the</strong> boundless possibilitiesthat you can avail yourself up even from a single tree structure! I’ve developed stag


R. J. I.~4~Gbeetles from ab<strong>out</strong> half of <strong>the</strong> crease patterns I’ve shown here. I’ll close this articlewith my fav<strong>ori</strong>te, which is derived from Figure 34, and is illustrated in Figure 37.Figure 37: Stag beetles, according to (left) human, (right) computer.You might wish to try to find your own folding sequence <strong>for</strong> one of <strong>the</strong>se creasepatterns. Better yet - change some dimensions of <strong>the</strong> tree and start over yourself!Give <strong>the</strong> beetle extra-long jaws this time, or get rid of <strong>the</strong> antennae, or add a pair ofopen wings. Whatever you do, you are bound to find new and undiscovered modelslurking in <strong>the</strong> paper. Whe<strong>the</strong>r you use TreeMaker, write your own computerprogram, or work <strong>out</strong> your design by hand, ma<strong>the</strong>matical <strong>ori</strong>gami design is apowerful technique that can lead you to new vistas of <strong>ori</strong>gami design.REFERENCES:Engel, P. (1989) Folding <strong>the</strong> Universe, New York: Random House.Gardner, M. (1992) FractalMusic, Hypercards, andMore, New York: Freeman.Kasahara, IC (1988) Origami Omnibus, New York: Japan~ Publications.Lang, R. J. 1994) Origami Insects, New York: Dover Publications, (to be published.)Montroll, J. (1985) Animal Origami <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> Enthusiast, New York: Dover.Rockafeiler, R. T. (1973) A dual approach to solving nonlinear programming problems byunconstrained optiraization, Ma<strong>the</strong>maticalProgramming, 5, 354-373.


Symmetry: Culture and ScienceVot 5, No. 2, 153-165, 1994MATHEMATICAL REMARKS ABOUTORIGAMI BASESJacques JustinLITP INSTITUT BLAISE PASCAL4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris CEDEX 05, France*FOREWORDThis paper is based, with only minor modifications, adjunctions and suppressions,on an handwritten manuscript of 1982 which was sent at this time to some foldersinterested in ma<strong>the</strong>matics. This led to correspondence with at least two of <strong>the</strong>m:professors Kodi Husimi and James Sakoda. <strong>The</strong> first one has seemingly considereda particular case of what I call a ’perfect bird base’ in his book, in Japanese, Origamino Kikagaku (<strong>The</strong> Geometry of Origami, Tokyo: Nippon Hyoronsha, 1979). <strong>The</strong>second one has made use of perfect bird bases in his magazine Mac Origami and inhis book Origami Flowers Arrangement (published by himself, 1992) and has deviseda good approximate method to find <strong>the</strong> ’<strong>ori</strong>gin’ of <strong>the</strong> perfect bird base.1 INTRODUCTIONWhen we fold <strong>the</strong> traditional bird base (Orizuru K/so, in Japanese) we find that ithas agreeable properties, <strong>for</strong> instance <strong>the</strong> flaps are easy to move. But try with arectangle: <strong>the</strong> result is less satisfactory. We shall examine <strong>the</strong> possibility of folding’good’ bird bases with polygons of various shapes. Afterwards we shall try a similarapproach <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> frog and <strong>the</strong> windmill bases.2 DEFINITIONS<strong>The</strong> polygons to be studied need not be convex. Let Ar42...A n (Figure 1) be apolygon, and O a point inside it such that <strong>the</strong> triangles AIOA 2 and so on do not* Mailing address: J. Justin, 19 rue de Bagneux, 92330 Sceaux, France.


154J. JUSTINoverlap each o<strong>the</strong>r (<strong>the</strong> polygon is said to be star-shaped from O; if it is concave,some points O do not work). We call preliminary base <strong>the</strong> result of bringing OA1,OA 2 .... , OA n toge<strong>the</strong>r by mountain folds, and <strong>ori</strong>gin of <strong>the</strong> base <strong>the</strong> point O (Figure2). Of course, when flattening.~_he model_valley folds must appear, say OMI, OM2,... and we have (Figure 1) AIOM 1 = M~IO~ 2 and so on. In <strong>the</strong> preliminary base, Oand <strong>the</strong> verticesA~,A2 .... lie on a line, and <strong>the</strong> flaps <strong>like</strong> OA2MIA~O can be bookfoldedwith that line as a hinge. Now, let us make a reverse fold on each flap, with<strong>the</strong> condition that <strong>the</strong> creases pass through <strong>the</strong> corresponding vertices, <strong>for</strong> instancethrough A 1 and A 2 <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> flap OA2MIAIO. We shall call <strong>the</strong> result a bird base(Figure 3). See Figure 4 <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> creases on <strong>the</strong> unfolded paper, and remark that <strong>the</strong>sides ,4./1i+ ~ of <strong>the</strong> polygon have been folded at points E i that differ, generally,from <strong>the</strong> Mi’s (<strong>for</strong> ease of notation we consider that ,4n+ 1 = ,41 and so on). <strong>The</strong>bird base retains <strong>the</strong> above-mentioned property of <strong>the</strong> preliminary base, that O and<strong>the</strong> Ai’s lie on <strong>the</strong> same line A, which is an axis of rotation <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> flaps <strong>like</strong>OPv4~A20. Now, let us say:Figures 1-3Definition: A bird base (Figure 5) is perfect if:(a) <strong>the</strong> triangular flap PIA2P2 can be bookfolded with P1P2 as a hinge, and so on <strong>for</strong><strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r flaps.(b) when P1A2P 2 has been folded ’downward; A 2 is in a new position A’ which lies onA and so on.(c) <strong>the</strong> flaps <strong>like</strong> P1A2P 2 consist everywhere of, exact(V, two layers of paper, that is <strong>the</strong>triangles A2P1E1 and A2P2E2 of Figure 4 are adjacent with<strong>out</strong> gap or overlap.


MATHEMATICAL REMARKS ABOUT ORIGAMI BASES 155Of course, such properties are among <strong>the</strong> good ones of <strong>the</strong> standard bird base,some o<strong>the</strong>rs being let aside because <strong>the</strong>y are too specific of <strong>the</strong> square.\ /\\ .\ ’!F~ures5~


156 Z JUSTIN3 PERFECT BIRD BASESFigure 6 shows <strong>the</strong> hidden reverse folds. By property (c), <strong>the</strong> points h2, E l, E 2 lieon <strong>the</strong> same line. Let H 2 be its intersection with PIP2 . By property (a), E 1 and E 2m~t be on...<strong>the</strong> side of P1P2 which do~ not con_tain A 2. So we have:P1E1A 2


MATHEMATICAL REMARKS ABOUT ORIGAMI BASES 157<strong>The</strong>orem: Given a polygon A1A2...An,(a) <strong>the</strong>re exists a perfect bird base with <strong>ori</strong>gin 0 if and only if <strong>the</strong>re exist positivenumbers r and e 1 ..... e n such thate i+ei+l=AiAi+l <strong>for</strong> 1


158 .I. ,JUSTINSo <strong>the</strong>re is at most one perfect bird base <strong>for</strong> any polygon. We propose, if it exists, tocall its <strong>ori</strong>gin <strong>the</strong> ’point of Loiseau’ of <strong>the</strong> polygon (L’oiseau: French words <strong>for</strong>: <strong>the</strong>bird).Figures 8-9Corollary 1: For any triangle <strong>the</strong>re is exactty one perfect bird base. Its <strong>ori</strong>gin can beconstructed with ruler and compasses.Proof: In Figure 9 we have e 1 + e 2 = A1A2, and so on. <strong>The</strong>n E l, E 2, E 3 are <strong>the</strong>points where <strong>the</strong> circle inscribed in AIA2A 3 touches <strong>the</strong> sides. Describe <strong>the</strong> circle(hl; el) , that is <strong>the</strong> circle with center A 1 and radius el, and in <strong>the</strong> same waycircles (A2; e2) , (A3; e3). <strong>The</strong>n by <strong>the</strong> relations e i + r = OA i, 0 must be <strong>the</strong> center ofa circle that touches <strong>the</strong> three preceding ones. <strong>The</strong>re<strong>for</strong>e, O can be obtained byelementary geometry. Here is one possible construction (deduced from inversionswith centers El).Let G 1 on <strong>the</strong> line A1A 2 be such that (A1; A2; El; G1) is harmonic. Describe <strong>the</strong>circle ((71; G1E1). It meets <strong>the</strong> circle (A3; e3) at H 3 within A1A2A 3. Similarly,construct HI, H 2. <strong>The</strong>n O is <strong>the</strong> point of intersection of <strong>the</strong> lines A1H1, A2H2,A~/-/3.When <strong>the</strong> triangle is isosceles, AtA 2 = A1A 3 (Figure 10), it is easier to construct<strong>the</strong> point of Loiseau. Describe <strong>the</strong> circle with centerA 1 and radius IA1A 2 - A2A 3 I.It meets <strong>the</strong> medianA~E 2 at two points, X and Y. Trace <strong>the</strong> perpendicular bisectorei<strong>the</strong>r ofA2XifA1A2 > A2A3, or of AYif not. It meetsA1E 2 at O.Corollary 2: <strong>The</strong> quadrangle AIA2AsA 4 has a perfect bird base if and only ifA1A 2 + A3A 4 = A2A ~ + A4A 1. <strong>The</strong>n <strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gin 0 lies at <strong>the</strong> intersection of two


MATHEMATICAL REMARKS ABOUT ORIGAMI BASES 159branches of hyperbolas. In <strong>the</strong> case where AIA 3 is an axis of symmetry, 0 is <strong>the</strong> pointwhere <strong>the</strong> circle inscribed in AIA2A 3 touches A1A3.A,Figures 10-12Proof: If O is <strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gin of a perfect bird base (Figure 11) we haveAzA 1 -A2A 3 =OA I -OA3 = A4A 1 -A4A 3. This impliesAIA 2 +A3A 4 =A2A 3 +A4A 1.Reciprocally, if that condition holds, <strong>the</strong>n A 2 and A 4 lie on <strong>the</strong> same branch ofsome hyperbola with focuses A1, A 3. Similarly A 1 and A 3 lie on a branch ofhyperbola with focuses A 2 and A 4. <strong>The</strong>se two curves intersect at some point Owithin <strong>the</strong> quadrangle. As O satisfies <strong>the</strong> conditions (3) of <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>orem, it is <strong>the</strong><strong>ori</strong>gin of a perfect bird base.In <strong>the</strong> case where hlh 3 is an axis of symmetry (Figure 12), <strong>the</strong> hyperbola passingthroughA 1 andA 3 becomes <strong>the</strong> lineA1A3, and <strong>the</strong>n, OA 1 - OA 3 = A2A 1 - A2A 3shows that O is <strong>the</strong> point of contact ofA~A 3 with <strong>the</strong> circle inscribed inAIA2,4 3.Remark: If <strong>the</strong> quadrangle is convex <strong>the</strong> condition on <strong>the</strong> sides is equivalent to <strong>the</strong>condition that it is circumscribed to some circle.Corollary 3: (a) If <strong>the</strong> po~gon A1A2...A n, with n even, has a perfect bird base, wemust have:AIA 2 - A2A3 + A3A 4 -...+An_ 1 A n - A n A1 =0"(4)(b) If <strong>the</strong> po~ygon AIA2...An, with n odd, has a perfect bird base with <strong>ori</strong>gin O, <strong>the</strong>n 0can be constructed with rules and compasses.(c) Given a point 0 it is easy to construct irregular polygons with n sides having aperfect b~rd base with <strong>ori</strong>gin O.


160 1. JUSTINProof: (a) If n is even, <strong>the</strong> system of equations e i + ei+ 1 = AiAi+ 1 (1 _< i -< n) hassolutions only if (4) is true.(b) If n is odd, we can find <strong>the</strong> Ei’s by solving <strong>the</strong> preceding system <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> ei’s.After, <strong>the</strong> point O can be constructed almost as we did <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> triangle.(c) Describe a circle C with center O (Figure 13), <strong>the</strong>n a circle C 1 externally tangentto C, <strong>the</strong>n a circle C 2 tangent to C and C 1, <strong>the</strong>n a circle C 3 tangent to C and C2,always externally, and so on; at last C n tangent to C, Cn_ 1 and C1. Join toge<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>centers A~, A 2 .... , A n of <strong>the</strong> circles. We get a polygon having a perfect bird basewith center O.Figure 134 FROG BASESLetA1A2...A n be a polygon, and B i a point on <strong>the</strong> side A.tAi+ 1 <strong>for</strong> 1 _< i _< n. Weshall say that a bird base <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> polygon AIB1A2..-4nBn is a frog base <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong>polygon A1A2...4 n. A frog base is said perfect if <strong>the</strong> corresponding bird base isperfect. We have <strong>the</strong> following<strong>The</strong>orem: If 0 is <strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gin of a perfect frog base <strong>for</strong> a polygon A1A2...An, <strong>the</strong>n B 1 is<strong>the</strong> point where <strong>the</strong> circle inscribed in AIOA 2 touches A1A:~ and so on.Proof: (Figure 14). <strong>The</strong> relation (3) applied to <strong>the</strong> associated perfect bird basegives Br41 - BaA 2 = OAx - 0.4 2 , so that <strong>the</strong> circle inscribed in A~ OA z touchesA IA 2 at B~.


MATHEMATICAL REMARKS ABOUT ORIGAMI BASES 161FiguresCorollary: For a rhombus, <strong>the</strong> center of symmetry is <strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gin of a perfect frog base.Proof: (Figure 15). With O at <strong>the</strong> center, choose <strong>the</strong> Bi’s as above (<strong>for</strong> instancefold <strong>the</strong> perfect bird base of <strong>the</strong> rhombus, <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> Bi’s are <strong>the</strong> Ei’s of Figure 7).<strong>The</strong>n by symmetry OB 1 - OB 2 = A2B a -A 2 B 2 (= 0) so that O is <strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gin of aperfect bird base <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> octagon AIBIA2..~B 4 , that is a perfect frog base <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong>rhombus.5 A PROBLEMFigures 16-17


162Y. JUSTIN<strong>The</strong> following property was found when trying to make irregular frog bases.Problem: Let OAB be a triangle and M be an arbitrary point onAB. Let I and J be<strong>the</strong> incenters of <strong>the</strong> trianglesAOM and BOM. Show that <strong>the</strong> circle with diameter IJmeets AB at M (of course) and at a second point, P, which does not depend of M(Figure 16).Hint <strong>for</strong> a geometrical proof. Project I and J orthogonally on AB at H and K,computeAH andAK and remark that HK and PM have <strong>the</strong> same middle.Origami solution of <strong>the</strong> problem. Mountain fold along OI an~d, OJ, <strong>the</strong>n petal foldalong IJ, which gives Figure 17. As PB and PA are adjacent, JPI = ~r/2. So P lies on<strong>the</strong> circle with diameter IJ. But PA + PB = AB, and also PA - PB = OA - OB, so<strong>the</strong> point P of AB does not depend of M.6 WINDMILL BASESFigures 18-19In current terminology of folders <strong>the</strong> windmill base made from a square is ei<strong>the</strong>r<strong>the</strong> windmill itself, or <strong>the</strong> quadruple preliminary base obtained by squashing <strong>the</strong>four points of <strong>the</strong> windmill. Here we use <strong>the</strong> first meaning. Let .A1A2...A n be aconvex polygon (Figure 18), O a point in its interior and M i a point of <strong>the</strong> side


MA THEMA TICAL REMARKS ABOUT ORIGAMI BASES163A.tAi+I, <strong>for</strong> 1 _< i _< n. Let us valley fold <strong>the</strong> polygon in such a way that all <strong>the</strong> Mi’scome to O. If we pinch <strong>the</strong> comers and fold <strong>the</strong>m fiat (Figure 19) we shall call <strong>the</strong>result a windmill base defined by O and <strong>the</strong> Mi’s. <strong>The</strong> main property is that <strong>the</strong> flapcontainingA 1 can be bookfolded with OD 1 as a hinge, and so on. Figure 18 showsthat D1D 2 is <strong>the</strong> perpendicular bisector of OM~. <strong>The</strong> creases D2M ~ and D2M 2correspond to <strong>the</strong> hinge of <strong>the</strong> flap A2, as <strong>the</strong>y coincide with D20 when <strong>the</strong> base isfolded. Last, when we have flattened <strong>the</strong> flap A2, an extracrease has appeared, sayD2X2, which is <strong>the</strong> perpendicular bisector ofM1M 2.Now we shall say that <strong>the</strong> windmill base is perfect if, <strong>for</strong> 1 _< i _< n, <strong>the</strong> line D-~" icoincides with <strong>the</strong> line D.rA i. This amounts to saying that <strong>the</strong> flap AiXiD~O is atriangle, or consists everywhere of two layers. We have <strong>the</strong> following<strong>The</strong>orem: Given a convex po~ygon A1A2...An, <strong>the</strong> points 0 inside and M i on <strong>the</strong> sidesAiAi+l,<strong>for</strong> I


164Y. YUS TINsides ofDiD2, soA20 > A2M 1 = e2, and <strong>the</strong>n conditions (2) are satisfied. Last, <strong>the</strong>polygon DID2..J) n must be convex with O inside it. So O and D i lie on <strong>the</strong> sameside of D1D 2 <strong>for</strong> i # 1, i # 2. So M~/~ > D i O. But D i is <strong>the</strong> center of <strong>the</strong> circle(Mi.lMiO). So M 1 lies <strong>out</strong>side this circle. But if we remark that O and M 1 lie on<strong>the</strong> same side of Mi.IM i (opposite to Ai) this is equivalent to <strong>the</strong> fact that O liesinside <strong>the</strong> circle (Mi_IMiM1). So conditions (3) are satisfied.(b) Reciprocally, if <strong>the</strong> conditions (1), (2) and (3) are satisfied, <strong>the</strong>n, by reversing<strong>the</strong> arguments above, we see that <strong>the</strong> perpendicular bisectors of OM 1 and OM 2intersect at some D 2 on <strong>the</strong> inner bisector of A1 ~"~2A3, and that <strong>the</strong> polygonD1D2..~D n is convex and contains O. So, by valley folding along D1Dz..J)n weobtain a perfect windmill base.Corollary: lf a convex po~ygon is circumscribed to a circle, <strong>the</strong>n it has infinitely manyperfect windmill bases.(Proof left to <strong>the</strong> reader).Remarks: (a) <strong>the</strong> conditions (1) can be satisfied if and only if <strong>the</strong> lengths A.~li+ 1satisfy some conditions easy to state (solve e i + ei+ 1 = Aiai+ 1 and write that <strong>the</strong>ei’s are positive). It is also equivalent to say that <strong>the</strong> polygon A1A2...4 n can bede<strong>for</strong>med by modifying its angles but not its sides, so that it become circumscribedto some circle.Coordinates: A1 (0, 14), A2 (-16, 8)A3 (-8, 0), A4 (8, 0), A5 (16, 8), O (12, 7)Figure(b) when conditions (1) are satisfied, <strong>the</strong> region corresponding to conditions (2),that is <strong>the</strong> intersection of <strong>the</strong> inside ofAy42...4 n with <strong>the</strong> <strong>out</strong>side of all <strong>the</strong> circles


MATHEMATICAL REMARKS ABOUT ORIGAMI BASES 165(hi; ei) is not empty. Though ra<strong>the</strong>r intuitive, this fact is difficult to prove. Maybe itcould be proved by a continuous de<strong>for</strong>mation of <strong>the</strong> polygon in <strong>the</strong> way said justabove. In any case, it follows easily from <strong>the</strong> proposition hereafter which can beproved by methods of Graph <strong>The</strong>ory.Proposition: Consider a convex polygon AIA2...A n and real numbers a i associatedwith its vertices, such that AiA~+ 1 >_ a i + ai+ 1 <strong>for</strong> I < i _ a i + aj<strong>for</strong>all i # j.(c) However it is not always possible to satisfy both (2) and (3), or even (3) alone.Try <strong>for</strong> instance to fold a windmill base defined by <strong>the</strong> Mi’s and O of Figure 21.You will obtain interesting results, but not exactly as wanted.7 CONCLUSIONMany geometrical problems arise when one tries to generalize <strong>the</strong> traditional<strong>ori</strong>gami bases. We have studied here some natural generalizations. Bases withirregular polygons or with polygons with many sides are probably of little use inOrigami. However some may be amusing. For instance fold a kite base from asquare, <strong>the</strong>n fold <strong>the</strong> kite into a perfect bird base, <strong>the</strong>n pull <strong>out</strong> <strong>the</strong> two corners of<strong>the</strong> square that had been folded first. With this ’kited bird base’ you can fold aflapping bird with long neck, short tail, medium-sized wings and small legs.


Symmetry: Culture and ScienceVot 5, No. 2, 167-177, 1994EVOLUTION OF ORIGAMI ORGANISMSJun MaekawaAddress: 1-7-5-103 Higashi-Izumi, Komae, Tokyo 201, JapanE-mail: maekawa@nro.nao.ac.jpAbstract: This article (based my book Viva! Origami (Maekawa, 1983) will show<strong>ori</strong>gami design as <strong>the</strong> tiling work. First, <strong>the</strong> rules of <strong>ori</strong>gami and some of <strong>the</strong> notions of<strong>ori</strong>gami taxonomy will be considered. Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, traditional models will be analyzed;<strong>the</strong> meaning of ’basic <strong>for</strong>m’ will be discussed; and an introduction to my <strong>ori</strong>ginaldesigns will be explained.1 ORIGIN OF THE SYSTEMATIC STRUCTUREIn <strong>ori</strong>gami, an organism is regarded as a trans<strong>for</strong>med flexible sheet. This sheet isable to be split and fused keeping <strong>the</strong> distinction between its surface and its reverseside (Kasahara and Takahama). Origami folding begins with a sheet of paper,which is trans<strong>for</strong>med by folds. Of course, <strong>the</strong>re are exceptions in that sometimesseveral sheets of paper are used, and, on occasions, scissors. However, <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong>moment, we shall consider <strong>the</strong> strict and traditional rules of <strong>ori</strong>gami. Most ofpaper-folders have implicit rules. <strong>The</strong> following are "<strong>the</strong> five commandments" byHusimi, arranged by Kasahara (1989). <strong>The</strong>se are typical rules of <strong>ori</strong>gami.1. Start with a sheet of square paper.2. Cutting and gluing are <strong>for</strong>bidden.3. Fold model fiat just be<strong>for</strong>e its completion.4. Straight folding is only permitted.5. When constructing a model, bear in mind <strong>the</strong> physical quali~ies of paper.I think Husimi made his rules from <strong>the</strong> character of traditional <strong>ori</strong>gami. Most classical<strong>ori</strong>gami models (in documents) violate all of <strong>the</strong> above rules. Models thatadhere to <strong>the</strong> rules have been handed down by tradition, and are not described inany extant document. <strong>The</strong>se models are <strong>the</strong> result of hist<strong>ori</strong>cal selection over a1000 years. (I describe ’over a 1000 years’, but <strong>the</strong>re is no established view when<strong>ori</strong>gami had its beginnings. This is my guess by <strong>the</strong> introduction of paper.) It can becompared to natural selection. In this analogy, <strong>the</strong> most important question to beconsidered is: What is selection pressure?


168 I.. MAEKAWAFish (tradition)Crane (tradition)Frog (tradition)~ Uttle bird (tradition) /Wind mill (tradition)Ff~ure tFigure 1 shows some traditional models and <strong>the</strong>ir creases. <strong>The</strong>ir primary characterreveals a sense of ’easiness’. An easy model stands <strong>the</strong> strongest chance of survival.However, it is very difficult to define <strong>the</strong> meaning of ’easiness’. It has, at least, twomeanings:1. Easy to make.2. Easy to learn.<strong>The</strong> <strong>for</strong>mer concept relates to technique; <strong>the</strong> latter to process.Ano<strong>the</strong>r keyword in traditional <strong>ori</strong>gami is ’natural’. Bearing <strong>the</strong>se two key words inmind, we can now explore <strong>the</strong> rules of <strong>ori</strong>gami in more detail.Most of <strong>the</strong> rules (one sheet, no cutting, no gluing, and fiat folding) encapsulated in<strong>the</strong> word ’fold’. <strong>The</strong>se are related to <strong>the</strong> physical qualities of <strong>the</strong> paper. We trans<strong>for</strong>ma sheet of paper by rolling up, crumpling, folding along curve and foldingalong straight line. Why fiat folding is important in <strong>the</strong> rule of <strong>ori</strong>gami? <strong>Miura</strong>’sstudies will give us a hint to solve this problem. He has shown us <strong>the</strong> peculiar fiatfolding as a solution of <strong>the</strong> strength of materials (<strong>Miura</strong>, 1989). We can find bits ofthis peculiar fiat folding in <strong>the</strong> traditional models.


EVOLUTION OF ORIGAMI ORGANISMS 169As <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> characters of traditional <strong>ori</strong>gami, we shouldn’t ignore <strong>the</strong> distinctionbetween <strong>the</strong> surface of paper and <strong>the</strong> reverse side of it, though it isn’t included inHusimi’s rules. On most of traditional models, surface and reverse side become<strong>out</strong>er inner sides as a result that edges of paper are fitted to ano<strong>the</strong>r edges. It isnatural and easy process of <strong>ori</strong>gami. In biological terms, it correspond to blastula. Itis a wonderful coincidence <strong>for</strong> me. However, ’<strong>ori</strong>gami sheet biology’ is very simple.At present, <strong>ori</strong>gami creatures are belonging to a kind of Coelentelata <strong>like</strong> a jellyfish.I may have overlooked <strong>the</strong> rules of <strong>ori</strong>gami. I think <strong>the</strong> rules of <strong>ori</strong>gami and its systematicstructures are <strong>ori</strong>ginate from both physical qualities of paper and ’easiness’as selection pressure. <strong>The</strong>se systematic structures lead me to <strong>the</strong> taxonomy, and my’tiling method’ is based on <strong>the</strong> taxonomy.2 THE ORGANIZATION OF TAXONOMY<strong>The</strong>re have been some attempts at producing a taxonomy <strong>for</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gami. <strong>The</strong>re arefour viewpoints as follows.1. Process.2. Symmetry of <strong>the</strong> complete model.3. Technique.4. Structure.<strong>The</strong> most famous study on <strong>ori</strong>gami taxonomy is that known as ’<strong>ori</strong>gami tree’. <strong>The</strong>pioneer of this study was probably Ohashi (1977). <strong>The</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gami tree was a systematicmethod used in learning how to construct <strong>ori</strong>gami models. Its main concept is<strong>the</strong> notion of ’basic <strong>for</strong>m’. Basic <strong>for</strong>ms are simple and geometrical <strong>for</strong>ms which canbe applied to many different kinds of <strong>ori</strong>gami designs. In fact, <strong>the</strong> crease patterns inFigure 1 aren’t actual complete figures, but basic <strong>for</strong>ms of <strong>the</strong>m. <strong>The</strong>re are ab<strong>out</strong> 10basic <strong>for</strong>ms. Returning to <strong>the</strong> biological analogy, <strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gami tree is a kind of agenealogical tree, <strong>for</strong> example, <strong>the</strong> frog’s legs and <strong>the</strong> Iris’s petals are homologous.It is an interesting viewpoint, but it has a rigid aspect because of its adherence to<strong>the</strong> folding processes.<strong>The</strong> symmetrical analysis of complete models is <strong>the</strong> second type of taxonomy. Thisview is mentioned by Kihara in his book (Kihara, 1979). He classifies traditionalmodels by point group (a term of crystallography). A new type of work in this fieldis that by Kawasaki who wasn’t aware of Kihara’s book. Kawasaki’s work is called’isoarea folding’ which is a design of 4-times rotatory inversional symmetry(Kasahara and Takahama).<strong>The</strong> third viewpoint considers <strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gami design to be an assembly of techniques.This view classifies folding techniques. For example, tsumami <strong>ori</strong> (pinch fold), nejiri


170 £ MAEKAWAor/(twist fold), sizume or/(push fold) ... At present, this study is only an idea, but<strong>the</strong>re are many designs which can be explained by <strong>the</strong>ir peculiar techniques.Taxonomy by structure will be described in Sections 3 to 5.3 ORDERLINESS OF TRADITIONAL MODELSIn Figure 1, <strong>the</strong>re is a systematic pattern in <strong>the</strong> fish-crane-frog lines. On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rhand, <strong>the</strong> pattern in <strong>the</strong> windmill is different from <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs. <strong>The</strong> minimum angleof it is 45 degrees. This pattern and its extension have been given <strong>the</strong> fitting nameof "box pleating" (Lang, 1988; Lang and Weiss, 1990). It has great potential inmaking new structures. Figure 2 is such an example. However, this type of folding isnot always structural because relations between each crease are weak. In short, <strong>the</strong>yare agglutinative.Rhinoceros (Maekawa)A fundamental shape of <strong>the</strong> fish-crane-frog system is <strong>the</strong> right-angle isoscale triaLglewhich is half of <strong>the</strong> fish base (Fig. 3). I call it <strong>the</strong> crane unit. <strong>The</strong> crane base isassembled by 4 units, and <strong>the</strong> frog base by 8 units. <strong>The</strong> 8-unit <strong>for</strong>m is not <strong>the</strong> limitof this system; <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r <strong>for</strong>m can be arranged by <strong>the</strong> same number of units. Figure4 shows <strong>the</strong>se examples. <strong>The</strong> flower dish is assembled by <strong>the</strong> same number of unitsas <strong>the</strong> frog units, whereas <strong>the</strong> bug is assembled by 16 units.This system has been known <strong>for</strong> a long time. Uchiyama shows <strong>the</strong> spider base (4frog bases = 32 crane units) in his book (Uchiyama, 1979), and it can be tracedback more. Figure 5 shows <strong>ori</strong>gami designs with cutting from <strong>the</strong> Edo period (1600-1860’s). <strong>The</strong> upper figure was introduced in Kayaragusa (Adachi, 1845). In aslightly different sense, <strong>the</strong> lower figure is an example of renkaku (chained cranes)in Senbazuru Orikata (Rokoan, 1797). I have designed o<strong>the</strong>r <strong>for</strong>ms using <strong>the</strong> craneunit assembly. Figure 6 shows an example.


EVOLUTION OF ORIGAMI ORGANISMS 171Flower dish (tradition)BugFigure 4Crab (tradition)Seigaiha (blue wave)(tradition)


172 ~ MAEKAWACrocodile (Maekawa)<strong>The</strong> crane unit is a right-angle isoscale triangle. We can extend this unit to arbitrarytriangles. Husimi first explained its geometrical meaning in his book (Husimi andHusimi, 1984).Husimi’s innerpoint <strong>the</strong>orem states: Any triangle is folded into a <strong>for</strong>m in which allsides are ga<strong>the</strong>red in a straight line. This <strong>the</strong>orem has been extended to include anyquadrilaterals with inscribed circles, and has been extended to quite arbitraryquadrilaterals (Fig. 7).<strong>The</strong> inner point <strong>the</strong>orem (Husimi) <strong>The</strong> Husimi-Maekawa Folding<strong>The</strong> quadrilateral molecule(Meguro)We can make crooked cranes using Husimi’s <strong>the</strong>orem. Since I know <strong>the</strong> arbitrarytriangle unit, I have a tendency to use <strong>the</strong> right-angle isoscale triangle unit. Using<strong>the</strong> peculiar triangle, we can design new models easily.4 ORIENTATION OF THE ELEMENTARY UNITS<strong>The</strong> ’crane unit’ is not an elementary unit (<strong>like</strong> an atom) of <strong>the</strong> crane. It is subdividedhere into two types of triangles (Fig. 8). <strong>The</strong>y are elementary units of cranetype <strong>ori</strong>gami; <strong>the</strong> little bird base is also assembled by those units.


EVOLUTION OF ORIGAMI ORGANISMSWe can regard <strong>the</strong> basic<strong>for</strong>ms as <strong>the</strong> results ofconditional tiling workusing <strong>the</strong> elementaryunits. <strong>The</strong> followingtwo <strong>the</strong>orems correspondto conditions of<strong>the</strong> tiling work, though<strong>the</strong>y aren’t sufficientconditions (Kawasaki,1989).22.567.5~,~ ~<strong>The</strong> elementary unitsFigure 8<strong>The</strong> Maekawa <strong>the</strong>orem states: At any node of a flat folding, except of those on <strong>the</strong>edge of <strong>the</strong> plane, <strong>the</strong> difference of <strong>the</strong> number of mountain creases and <strong>the</strong> numberof valley creases is equal to two (Maekawa, 1983).<strong>The</strong> Kawasaki <strong>the</strong>orem states: At any node of a flat folding, except of those on <strong>the</strong>edge of <strong>the</strong> plane, <strong>the</strong> alternate total of angles between <strong>the</strong> creases is equal to 180degrees (Kasahara, 1989; Kawasald, 1989).Unit (type I) Unit (type 2) Unlt (type3)In designing <strong>the</strong> new model, I do not use <strong>the</strong> elementary units <strong>the</strong>mselves, but secondaryunits which are assembled by several elementary units. In short, this tilingwork is hierarchical. Figure 9 shows examples of <strong>the</strong>se secondary units. Of course,<strong>the</strong> crane unit belongs to <strong>the</strong> group of <strong>the</strong> secondary units. Recently, a wellarranged work using those units was made by Meguro (1991-92). He emphasizes<strong>the</strong> ’univalency" of <strong>the</strong> secondary units. In <strong>ori</strong>gami, ’univalency’ means <strong>the</strong> charactershown in <strong>the</strong> Husimi’s innerpoint <strong>the</strong>orem, that is to say, that all sides of <strong>the</strong> figureare ga<strong>the</strong>red in a straight lihe by flat folding. ’Univalency’ is a concept to increaseefficiency of <strong>the</strong> tiling work.


174 L MAEKAWADevil (Maekawa)Deer (Maekawa)Uzard (Maekawa)Beast (Maekawa)1.S-------) 1AdaptationNew patternAlready Known patternRotational viewAdaptationAdditionAlready known patternSlide view


5 THE ORIGINAL DESIGNSEVOLUTION OF ORIGAMI ORGANISMS 175I have created new designs using <strong>the</strong> tiling work. Figure 10 shows some of <strong>the</strong>sedesigns. In designing <strong>the</strong>m, I have used various methods - among <strong>the</strong>m:’adaptation’, ’addition’, ’rotational view’ and ’slide view’. <strong>The</strong>se are illustrated inFigure 11. ’Adaptation’ is a re-introduction of arbitrary triangle folding. ’Addition’and o<strong>the</strong>rs are extended methods of already known <strong>for</strong>ms.2 times self similar figuresFigureIt is interesting that two peculiar figures appear in those <strong>for</strong>ms. One is a rectanglewhich is square root 2 wide per o<strong>the</strong>r side, and <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r is a right-angle isoscaletriangle. <strong>The</strong>y are figures that can be divided into two self-similar figures as in Figure12. <strong>The</strong> crane system is a good example of this pattern. I have achieved someinteresting results by starting with a sheet of this peculiar-ratio rectangle paperinstead of a sheet of square paper (Fig. 13). (This ratio is very common.) Squareroot 2 is <strong>the</strong> magic number of <strong>ori</strong>gami, because we find this ratio everywhere.Giraffe (Maekawa)Fish (Maekawa)Figure 13This magic number is significant under <strong>the</strong> conditions that folding angles arerestricted within multiples of 22.5 degrees. If we use o<strong>the</strong>r angles, we will find o<strong>the</strong>rmagic numbers or will not see it.


176 1.. MAEKAWAUnit anqleTilin.qTriancjles(l~)x90degrees45~ 4575(l~)x90degrees18’,l/4)x90degrees(lf3)x90degreesTable ITable 1 shows an extension of <strong>the</strong> elementaq¢ units. <strong>The</strong> hexasection of <strong>the</strong> rightangle is productive. I have tiled <strong>the</strong> hexasectional units on a square field as in Figure14. <strong>The</strong> trisection has a possibility on regular hexagons and rectangles: <strong>the</strong> ratiobetween <strong>the</strong> width and <strong>the</strong> length is an integer division or a multiple of <strong>the</strong> squareroot of 3. <strong>The</strong> pentasection can be used on regular pentagons and <strong>the</strong> Penrose tiles,but I have not accomplished presentable designs to date.


EVOLUTION OF ORIGAMI ORGANISMS 177REFERENCESAdachi, K. (1845) Kayaragusa [<strong>The</strong> Collection, in Japanese],(not published), A part of copy in: Kasahara, K., Origami5, Tokyo: Yuki-Shobo, 1976.Husimi, K. and Husimi, M. (1984) Origami no Kikagaku,[Geometry of Origami, in Japanese], enlarged ed.,Tokyo: Nihon-Hyoron-Sha.Kasahara, K. (1989) Origami Shin-sekai [<strong>The</strong> New World ofOrigami, in Japanese], Tokyo: Sanrio.Kasahara, K. and Takahama, T. (1987) Origami <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong>Connoisseur, Tokyo: Chuo-Kouron-Sha.Kawasaki, T. (1989) On relation between mountain-creasesand valley-creases of a flat <strong>ori</strong>gami, In : Huzita, H., ed.,Origami Science and Technology, Proceedings of <strong>the</strong><strong>International</strong> Meeting of Origami Science andTechnology, Ferrara, pp. 229-237.Kihara, T. (1979) Bunshi to Uchuu [Molecule and Cosmos, inJapanese], Tokyo: lwanami.Lang, R. (1988) <strong>The</strong> Complete Book of Origami, New York:Dover.Lang, R. and Weiss, S. (1990) Origami Zoo, New York: St.Martin’s Press.Maekawa, J. (1983) Viva ! Origami, Kasahara, K., ed., Tokyo:Sanrio.Meguro, T. (1991-1992) Jitsuyou <strong>ori</strong>gami sekkeihou [Practicalmethods of <strong>ori</strong>gami designs, in Japanese], OrigamiTanteidan Shinbun [<strong>The</strong> Origami DetectivesNewsletter], 5-36-7 Hakusan Bunkyou-ku Tokyo:Gallery Origami House, Nos. 7-12, 14.<strong>Miura</strong>, K. (1989) Map fold a la <strong>Miura</strong> style, its physicalcharacter and application to <strong>the</strong> space science, In:HuTJta, H., ed., Origami Science and Technology,Proceedings of <strong>the</strong> <strong>International</strong> Meeting of OrigamiScience and Technology, Ferrara, pp. 39-49.Ohashi, K. (1977) Sousaku Origami [Creative Origami, inJapanese], Tokyo: Bijutsu-Shuppan-Sha.Rokoan, (1797) Senbazuru Orikata [Folding Forms of 1000Cranes, in Japanese], Republished: Kasahara K.,Origami 2 -- Senbazuru Orikata, Tokyo: Subaru-Shobo,1976.Uchiyama, K. (1979) Junad Origami [<strong>The</strong> Pure Origami, inJapanese], Tokyo: Kokudo-Sha.Mantis (Maekawa)Rail (Maekawa)Fibre 14


Syr, vnetry: CuRu,’e and ScienceVo~ 5, No. 2, 179-188, 1994PAPER SCULPTUREDidier Boursin17 rue Sainte Croix de la Bretonnerie, F-75004 Paris, FranceOrigami, or paper folding, is always practised with both hands. This reflects <strong>the</strong>symmetry implicated in paper folding. This symmetry is accompanied by a fur<strong>the</strong>raspect; that of <strong>the</strong> way <strong>the</strong> folding is per<strong>for</strong>med: <strong>the</strong> folds made on <strong>the</strong> paperintroduce successively different points of reference; points around which <strong>the</strong>symmetry turns, and folded lines which act as <strong>the</strong> axes of symmetry.<strong>The</strong> marks into <strong>the</strong> space are also dualistic operations: left - right, above - under,up - down, right-side - wrong-side, and so on... Symmetry is ever present though its<strong>for</strong>m is dependent on which model do you wish to construct. For instance, in<strong>ori</strong>gami, animals generally have an axis of symmetry along a single axis; plants andflowers, on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, have <strong>the</strong>ir symmetry organised around a central point.All <strong>the</strong> traditional bases and techniques are also objects of analysis from <strong>the</strong> pointof view of symmetry: <strong>the</strong> water-bomb base, <strong>the</strong> preliminary base, <strong>the</strong> windmill base,<strong>the</strong> bird base, <strong>the</strong> fish base; <strong>the</strong> reverse fold, <strong>the</strong> squash fold, <strong>the</strong> rabbit’s ear.<strong>The</strong> paper shape used is often <strong>the</strong> square, which has many axes of symmetry, <strong>like</strong>polygons <strong>for</strong> example.Symmetry is <strong>the</strong> foundation of any equilibrium. It puts <strong>the</strong> mind ease. It is <strong>the</strong><strong>ori</strong>gin of aes<strong>the</strong>tic. It allows <strong>the</strong> glance not to be lost. <strong>The</strong> symmetry is a glance on ahuman being, who is symmetrical too. In <strong>the</strong> sense of <strong>ori</strong>gami, a human being issymmetrical and is, moreover, represented in a closed surface. We start from apiece of square paper, and, through successive symmetrical folds, reduce it while weget a closed, completed <strong>ori</strong>gami model. <strong>The</strong> most important feature of <strong>ori</strong>gami isnot <strong>the</strong> final object created, but <strong>the</strong> operations that are per<strong>for</strong>med to obtain thatfinal product. That final product may become elegant and simple, <strong>for</strong> it to be seenas interesting and aes<strong>the</strong>tically pleasing. If not <strong>the</strong> best techniques are applied ortoo much paper is used in <strong>the</strong> construction of a model, it will be seen as inelegantand not very artistic. <strong>The</strong> application of paper in successive layers is consideredunaes<strong>the</strong>tic and spoiling its artistic and symmetrical charm. Ideally, <strong>ori</strong>gami shouldinvolve delicate folds, each of which should be reflected upon, <strong>like</strong> <strong>the</strong> moving ofchesspieces on a chessboard.


180 D. BOURSIN2 Fold in front andA behind 4 Fold and unfold 5 Fold twiceand behindjoin <strong>the</strong> dots6 Unfold and returnI///)9 Fold angles inhalf and unfold~ / / ~XX N7 Join <strong>the</strong> dots 8 Join <strong>the</strong> dots( / [ ~ and return folding in half~ ~~ 10 Open;fold in halfConnect t/" /5 pieces~14 Lock by thislast fold insideFigure !: Star by D. Boursin (1992).


PAPER SCULPTURE 181t’,’ I,/Figure 2: Star in 3 dimensions by D. Boursin (1992).


182 D. BOURSIN1 Take a A4 paper and fold it in quartersand cut it in half2 Fold all <strong>the</strong> quartersexcept two parts andcut until <strong>the</strong> middle3 Fold each triangle <strong>the</strong>n fold it in3 Dimensions5 <strong>The</strong> cube where appearsV’ and V z4 Fold <strong>the</strong> both pieces of A4 and connectroger her.Figure 3: Cube structure by D. Boursin (1990).


PAPER SCULPTURE 1831 pher les 4 pointes d’un cartejusqu’au centre pu~s marquerles phs au t~ers dansles 2 sens2ouvrir completementet retourner:~ plier les 2 trianglesderriere et marquerderniers ptis commeindiquOs puis retourner4ghsser les cbtesI’un darts I’autre5rabattre les po=ntes ~. I’~nt~r~eurpuls remonter le t<strong>out</strong> ~ la verticale6 embo~ter I’un dans I’autre"~ le cube terrnln~Figure 4: Cube by D. Boursin (1990).


184 D. BOURSIN<strong>The</strong> model’s symmetry should explain <strong>the</strong> essence itself of <strong>the</strong> paper and symmetry:minimum of matter <strong>for</strong> a maximum of expression should be one of <strong>the</strong> fundamentalrules to follow in creating a new aes<strong>the</strong>tic of symmetry and generally <strong>ori</strong>gami.To practice <strong>the</strong> folding, it’s to sculpt <strong>the</strong> matter trying to explain tae bestexpression. Personally, I prefer simple <strong>ori</strong>gami; I try to be simple in my <strong>ori</strong>gamiworks, however it’s very difficult.For me, <strong>ori</strong>gami is most of <strong>the</strong> time, a wink of life, generally very ephemeral. Now<strong>the</strong> task is to fold different irregular sizes, or polygon shapes of paper from <strong>the</strong>usual square-shaped paper. A4 size paper owns interesting proportions: 21 x V~ =29.7 (~/~-is <strong>the</strong> diagonal of a square, ~ is <strong>the</strong> diagonal of an A4 size paper andalso <strong>the</strong> diagonal of <strong>the</strong> cube). <strong>The</strong> relation between 2 and 3 dimensions is alsointeresting to explore and can be used <strong>for</strong> folding different sorts of cubes andpolyhedrons with this paper size.Summing up, symmetry cannot be dissociated from a sense of equilibrium,proportion, elegantness and aes<strong>the</strong>tic beauty.


PAPER SCULPTURE 1851 A4 paper : fold and unfold asindicates2 Hold <strong>the</strong> paper with both handsand fold dot to dot3 Make <strong>the</strong> creases <strong>the</strong>n makes j’ reverse folds ~4 Fold inside <strong>the</strong> littletriangles (4) <strong>the</strong>n fold<strong>the</strong> right side down to<strong>the</strong> dot.Repeat on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r side.5\\// Put <strong>the</strong> left triangle inside<strong>the</strong> central one6 Fold and unfold <strong>the</strong>middle on <strong>the</strong> bothsides.For making in3 dimensions,pull <strong>out</strong><strong>the</strong> opposite corners.7 <strong>The</strong> octahedron finishedFigure 5: Octahedron by D. Boursin (1992)


186D. BOURSINFisure 6: Folding frame: <strong>The</strong> structure (D. Boursin).


PAPER SCULPTURE 187Figure 7: Folding Frame: Details (D. Boursin).


188 D. BOURSINTHE AUTHOR’S PUBLICATIONS ON ORIGAMI:B<strong>out</strong>-sin, D. (1983) Le ticketplid.Boursin, D. (1988) Manuelpractique d’<strong>ori</strong>gami, ed. Celiv.Boursin, D. (1989) Papiers plids, des idees plein les mains, ed. J’ai lu.B<strong>out</strong>’sin, D. (1990) Pliages en mouvernent, ed. Dessain et Tolra.Boursin, D. (1991) Pliage des serviettes, ed. Dessain et Tolra.Boursin, D. (1992) Pliages en libertY, ed. Dessain et Tolra.Boursin, D. (1994) Pliagespremierspas, ed. Dessain et Tolra.


Symmetry: Culture and ScienceVoL 5, No. ~ 189-210, 1994SYMMETRIC GALLERYORIGAMI


190 D. BOURSINSymmetry: Culture and ScienceVoL 5, No. 2, 190-196, 1994Shooting Stars, one piece paper with curve, (Didier Boursin).


PAPER SCULPTURE -- GALLERY 1913 Horns, it is a work on curving paper <strong>the</strong>n continue and discontinue, (Didier Boursin).


192 D. BOURSINTetrahedron, from A4 sheet of paper, (Didier Boursin, photo: Fabrice Besse).Cubes, from A5 sheet of paper, (Didier Boursin, photo: Fabrice Besse).


PAPER SCULPTURE -- GALLERY 193Octahedron, (Didier Boursin, Photo: Fabrice Besse).Polihedra, (Didier Boursin, photo: Fabrice Besse).


194 D. BOURSIN5Points Star, (Didier Boursin, photo: Fabrice Besse).Star in 3 Dimettsions, (Didier Boursin, photo: Fabrice Besse).


PAPER SCULPTURE -- GALLERY 195Growing Plant, it contains 9 meters o[ paper in one piece, (Didier Boursin).Folding Frame. It is impossible to fold directly by hands. <strong>The</strong> artist has different flames <strong>like</strong> this with aminimum of foldings; this is one of <strong>the</strong> best solutions, (Didier Boursin, photo: Fabrice Besse).


196 D. BOURSINMobile, (Didier Boursin, photo: Fabrice Besse).


198 R..L LANG15. Fold <strong>the</strong> paper in halfalong <strong>the</strong> diagonal and rotate1/8 turn counterclockwise16, Fold and unfold 17. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> edge18. Fold and unfold19. Open-sink <strong>the</strong> corner. 20. Spread-sink <strong>the</strong> edgesymmetrically21. Fold <strong>the</strong> edge upward22. Fold <strong>the</strong> upper edge downto align with a hidden edge,crease, and unfold,23. Pull <strong>the</strong> paper <strong>out</strong> from under<strong>the</strong> pleat and sink a square regionof <strong>the</strong> paper <strong>out</strong>lined by <strong>the</strong>creases you made m step 2124. Flatten <strong>the</strong> model 25. Repeat steps 23--24 b~hmd 26. Asymmemcally squash-fold<strong>the</strong> right side Note that <strong>the</strong>two circled crease intersectionscome toge<strong>the</strong>r


STAG BEETLE 2 -- FOLDING INSTRUCTIONS 19927. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> edgeupward28. Bring two layers of paperto <strong>the</strong> front.29. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> far edge30. Fold and unfold along ah<strong>ori</strong>zontal crease, which linesup with a hidden edge31. Fold and unfold along acrease perpendicular to <strong>the</strong>adjacent folded edge32. Pleat <strong>the</strong> nght side,plVOtlng <strong>the</strong> bottom corner sothat its edges align with <strong>the</strong>raw edges on <strong>the</strong> far layers<strong>The</strong> model will not lie fiat33. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> corner 34. Full <strong>out</strong> a single layer ofpaper (open unsmk) to make<strong>the</strong> pleat symmetric35. Close up <strong>the</strong> model andflatten completely36. Mountain-fold <strong>the</strong> narrowflap behind to make <strong>the</strong> modelsymmetric from front to back37. Simultaneously squash-fold<strong>the</strong> left edge andmountain-fold <strong>the</strong> bottomunderneath, tucking tt into <strong>the</strong>pocket Repeat behind38. Lift up one edge and bring<strong>the</strong> bottom corner up so thatstands <strong>out</strong> away from <strong>the</strong>model


2OOR]. LANG39. Pull a colored comer 40. Repeat steps 38-39<strong>out</strong> from lnstde <strong>the</strong> pocket, behtndsquash <strong>the</strong> top down, pull<strong>the</strong> sides <strong>out</strong>, and flatten41. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> edges 42. Fold and unfoldRepeat behLnd43. Fold and unfold, 44. Fold <strong>the</strong> comer down 45. Fold <strong>the</strong> comer backRepeat behind whde squash-folding <strong>the</strong> up but keep <strong>the</strong> squashedge underneathfold in place46. Pull <strong>out</strong> a raw edge.47. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> edge 48. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> edge 49. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> edge 50. Repeat steps 42-49back <strong>out</strong> again behind5;1. Fold one layer up, 52. Fold <strong>the</strong> raw edge overrepeat behindto <strong>the</strong> right and ptnch <strong>the</strong>excess paper upwardRepeat behind53. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> whitepoint to <strong>the</strong> left54. Wrap one layer from<strong>the</strong> mstde to <strong>the</strong> front.Repeat behind.


STAG BEETLE 2 -- FOLDING INSTRUCTIONS 20155. Fold and unfold, repeat 56. Open-sink <strong>the</strong> corner, 57. Ptnch <strong>the</strong> narrow pointbehind repeat behind m half and swing itdownward Repeat behind59. Stretch and narrow <strong>the</strong> 60. Now we’ll work on one 61. Fold and unfoldpoint and swing ttside at a nme <strong>for</strong> a whiledownward Repeat behindFold and unfold62. Reverse-fold 63. Reverse-fold on <strong>the</strong> 64. Reverse-fold againcrease you made in step 6165. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> 66. Pull <strong>out</strong> a raw edge 67, Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> edgeremaining edgehalfway between existingcreases


202 R.£ LANG68. Reverse-fold on an 69. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> edge 70. Repeat steps 66-69existing crease back down to hne up with behtnd<strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r edges71. Fold two edges down 72. Lift up one layer 73. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> ms,deto <strong>the</strong> lower left and shghtly edgespread-squash ~e toph<strong>ori</strong>zontal edge74. Close tt up 75. Fold a mbb*t ear from a 76. Fold two layers 77. Fold a rabb*t ear fromsingle layer upward <strong>the</strong> remaining layer78. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> pointupward; <strong>the</strong> reverse goesbetween <strong>the</strong> topmost edgeand <strong>the</strong> remaining edges79. Sink <strong>the</strong> edge 80. Mountain-fold twoedges toge<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>for</strong>ming asmall swivel fold at <strong>the</strong>base of <strong>the</strong> point


STAG BEETLE 2 -- FOLDING INSTRUCTIONS2O381. Repeat steps 60~0 82. Fold and unfold,behind83. Fold and unfold84. Reverse-fold two 85. Fold and unfold <strong>The</strong>pointscoming step will be easter tfyou mountain-fold <strong>the</strong> paperthrough <strong>the</strong> thick layers aswell Repeat behind86. Closed-sink <strong>the</strong> cornerRepeat behind87. Fold <strong>the</strong> left edge to he 88. Pull <strong>out</strong> some loosealong <strong>the</strong> diagonal creasepaper and squash <strong>the</strong> excessRepeat behindupward Repeat behind89. Open <strong>out</strong> <strong>the</strong> flap90. Pleat <strong>the</strong> flap upward 91. Pull <strong>out</strong> some loosepaper92. Squash-fold <strong>the</strong> edge andswing <strong>the</strong> excess paper to <strong>the</strong>right


2O493- Pull <strong>out</strong> some moreexcess paper94. Detml of <strong>the</strong> left half of<strong>the</strong> model Squash-fold <strong>the</strong>flap95. Petal-fold <strong>the</strong> edge96. Pull one of <strong>the</strong> corners of<strong>the</strong> square all <strong>the</strong> way <strong>out</strong>from ms,de97. Squash-fold <strong>the</strong> cornersymmetrically98. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> edges99. Fold and unfold100. Fold <strong>the</strong> point up to <strong>the</strong>left101. Pull <strong>out</strong> some paper102. Squash-fold <strong>the</strong> paper 103. Pull <strong>out</strong> some paper 104. Outside-reverse-fold d~eover to <strong>the</strong> rightcorner


STAG BEETLE 2 -- FOLDING INSTRUCTIONS 205105. Fold and unfold106. Fold one flap over to 107. Fold and unfold<strong>the</strong> left108. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> corner109. Enlarged viewMountatn-fold <strong>the</strong> whitecorner underneath and swing<strong>the</strong> two potnts down110. Squash-fold <strong>the</strong> point111. Inside petal-fold <strong>the</strong>edge112. Fold two points up 113. Open-sink both corners 114. Fold two potnts down115. Fold two points upward 116. Close up <strong>the</strong> model, 117. Reverse-fold two edgesincorporating a reverse fold


206118. Pull <strong>out</strong> some loosepaper119. Valley fold <strong>the</strong> mw edgedown Repeat behind120, Fold half of <strong>the</strong> toplayers <strong>for</strong>ward and ball of <strong>the</strong>bottom layers behind121, Carefully spread-stnk <strong>the</strong>corner, spreading all of <strong>the</strong> layerssymmetrically122. Closed un-smk <strong>the</strong> pocket 123. Grasp two edges of <strong>the</strong> pointyou lUSt pulled <strong>out</strong> and stretch <strong>the</strong>mto <strong>the</strong> left, <strong>the</strong> point disappears in<strong>the</strong> process124. In progress 125. Fold and unfold


STAG BEETLE 2 -- FOLDING INSTRUCTIONS 207126. Closed-sink <strong>the</strong> edge on <strong>the</strong> creaseyou lUSt made It helps to open <strong>the</strong> model<strong>out</strong> from <strong>the</strong> underside while you do this127. Spread-sink <strong>the</strong> edge symmetrically128. Sink <strong>the</strong> bottom two corners andsqueeze <strong>the</strong> excess paper upwnrd Becareful to keep <strong>the</strong> paper from filbng uptbe vertxc:al sht between <strong>the</strong> sides t Repeaton <strong>the</strong> top129. Bring one layer m front130. Mountain-fold one layer behind ontop and bottom131. valley-fold a double edge to <strong>the</strong>center hne of <strong>the</strong> model above andbelow132. Undo two reverse folds 133. Turn <strong>the</strong> model over


2O8/~J. LANG134. Pleat <strong>the</strong> abdomen 135. Mountain-fold <strong>the</strong> edges of <strong>the</strong>pleated par~136. Crimp <strong>the</strong> thtck (tuner) points so that<strong>the</strong>y stand straight <strong>out</strong> from <strong>the</strong> body137. Mountain-fold <strong>the</strong> edges and tuck<strong>the</strong>m into pockets Repeat behind138. Next wews am a close-up of <strong>the</strong>right side of <strong>the</strong> model139. Fold and unfold ab<strong>out</strong> 2/5of <strong>the</strong> pomt140. Fold and unfold Note that<strong>the</strong> vemcal crease h~ts <strong>the</strong> topedge at <strong>the</strong> same place <strong>the</strong> lastcrease d~d141. Camp <strong>the</strong> point downward 142. Pull <strong>out</strong> two layers on <strong>the</strong> 143. Wrap one layer to <strong>the</strong>on <strong>the</strong> existing creases top and bottom front Repeat behind


STAG BEETLE 2 -- FOLDING INSTRUCTIONS 209144. Pull <strong>out</strong> some loose paperRepeat behind145. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> point 146. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> corner147. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> h~ddencorner148. Repeat steps 138-147 on<strong>the</strong> lower flap149. Pinch <strong>the</strong> two flaps in halfthrough all layers150. Turn <strong>the</strong> model over 151. Mountain-fold <strong>the</strong> bluntcorner inside152. Pinch <strong>the</strong> two small pointsm half153. Ptnch <strong>the</strong> two small points 154. Pull <strong>out</strong> two points 155. Turn <strong>the</strong> model back overin half


210 R.Z LANG156. Crimp <strong>the</strong> antennae to 157. L~ke th~s<strong>the</strong> ngbt158. This shows <strong>the</strong> entire model Crimp{he <strong>for</strong>elegs (on <strong>the</strong> rJght) Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong>h*nd legs160. Turn tbe model over159. Reverse-fold <strong>the</strong> hind feetReverse-gold each m~d leg twice,161. Round <strong>the</strong> abdomen and pleat *t down{he m(ddle Make <strong>the</strong> body 3-D162. F*mshed Stag Beetle


Syrametry: Culture and ScienceVoL 5, No. 2, 211-212, 1994RESEARCH PROBLEMS ON SYMMETRYRESEARCH PROBLEM 1Two-sided wallpaper groups of periodic <strong>ori</strong>gami patternsOrigami is useful to make infinite periodic patterns, more precisely, to represent afinite part of <strong>the</strong>m. <strong>The</strong>se periodic patterns are not 2-dimensional in a strict sense,because <strong>the</strong>y are not totally fiat, but ra<strong>the</strong>r occupy a narrow layer. We may call<strong>the</strong>m 2.5-dimensional patterns, continuing Coxeter’s joking remark that <strong>the</strong> 7frieze-groups (strip-groups) are 1.5-dimensional.<strong>The</strong> 2.5-dimensional periodic patterns can be analyzed with two-sided wallpapergroups (layer groups). <strong>The</strong>se were firstly enumerated by C. Hermann (1929): <strong>the</strong>reare exactly 80 types. In <strong>the</strong> same year L. Weber (1929) illustrated all of <strong>the</strong>m byblack-and-white patterns where <strong>the</strong> colors refer to <strong>the</strong> front and <strong>the</strong> back sides,respectively (see, e.g., Shubnikov and Koptsik, 1972, where Weber’s figures arereprinted). From <strong>the</strong>se 80 types only 46 ones are really interesting, while <strong>the</strong>remaining 34 types are degenerate cases (i.e., <strong>the</strong> 17 strictly 2-dimensionalwallpaper patterns, as those cases where only one side is used; and those fur<strong>the</strong>r 17cases where <strong>the</strong> above mentioned 17 patterns are mirrored to <strong>the</strong> back side). <strong>The</strong>se46 patterns are also known as two-colored (black-and-white) patterns. Thisinterpretation with colors is useful in both fields: crystallography (where <strong>the</strong> colorsrefer to different physical properties, e.g., positive and negative magnetism) anddesign. Indeed, <strong>the</strong>se patterns were discovered and studied not only by <strong>the</strong>mentioned crystallographers, but also by <strong>the</strong> textile engineer H. J. Woods (1936).His patterns are reprinted in a more recent monograph on pattern analysis o<strong>for</strong>namental arts (Crowe and Washburn, 1988).Question: How many of <strong>the</strong>se 46 types can be represented by <strong>ori</strong>gami with<strong>out</strong> usingcuts?REFERENCESHermann, C. (1929) Zur systematischen Struktur<strong>the</strong><strong>ori</strong>e: 3. Ketten und Netzgruppen, [Ab<strong>out</strong> asystematic structure-<strong>the</strong>ory: Chain- and net-groups, in German], Zeitschriflfiir Kristallographie, 69,25O-270.


212 RESEARCH PROBLEMS ON SYMMETRYShubnikov, A. V. and Koptsik, V. A. (1972) Simmetriya v nauke i islo~sstve, [in Russian], Moskva:Nauka, 339 pp.; English trans., Syrmnctry in Science andArt, New York: Plenum Press, 1974, xxv +420 pp. [See Chap. 8].Washburn, D. K. and Crowe, D. W. (1988) Symmetn’es of Culture: <strong>The</strong>ory and Practice of Plane PatternAnalysis, Seattle, Wash.: University of Washington Press, x + 299 pp.; Paperback ed., ibid., 1991.[See Chap. 3].Weber, L. (1929) Die Symmetrie homogener ebener Punktsysteme, [Symmetry o1~ homogeneous planarypoint-systems, in German], ZeitschtiftffirKristallographie, 70, 309-327.Woods, H. J. (1936) <strong>The</strong> geometrical basis of pattern design: Part 4, Counterchange symmetry in planepatterns, Journal of <strong>the</strong> Tepaile Institute, Transactions, 27, T305-T320.D6nes Nagy


Symm~ay: Culture and ScienceVot 5, No. 2, 213-218, 1994SYMMETR O-GRAPHYSection Editor: Ddnes Nagy, Institute of Applied Physics,University of Tsulazba, Tsukuba Science City 305, Japan;Fax: 81-298-53-5205; E-mail: nagy@kafka.bk.tsukuba.ac.jpBOOK REVIEWBoursln, Didier, Pliages en mouvement, [Folding in Movement, in French], Paris:Dessain et Tolra, 1990, 79 pp.; Reprint, ibm, 1991.<strong>The</strong> author of this book is <strong>the</strong> President of <strong>the</strong> Mouvement Franfais des Plieurs dePapier (French Association of Paper Folders). <strong>The</strong> work starts with a one-pageintroduction with an hist<strong>ori</strong>c survey, including some interesting data ab<strong>out</strong> <strong>the</strong>spread of paper-folding in France. A group of Japanese touring in France actuallydemonstrated <strong>the</strong> ’real’ <strong>ori</strong>gami in 1860. <strong>The</strong> author emphasizes, however, that<strong>the</strong>re was in Europe an independent tradition based on folding table napkins,which <strong>ori</strong>ginated in <strong>the</strong> courts of Henry III and Louis XIV. <strong>The</strong> book has five mainparts: Animals, Magic, Gravity, Sounds (i.e., instruments producing sounds), Cards.<strong>The</strong> contents has an important feature: <strong>the</strong> items are classified into three categ<strong>ori</strong>esof very simple (*), simple (**), and difficult (***). This is followed by <strong>the</strong> detailedexplanation of <strong>the</strong> visual symbols used in paper folding. In each case of <strong>the</strong>presented ’paper compositions’ we find double illustrations: a color photograph of<strong>the</strong> completed work and <strong>the</strong> detailed explanation how to make it, with very wellmade drawings. <strong>The</strong> quality of <strong>the</strong> photographs, made by Fabrice Besse, represent ahigh level of artistic skill. In many cases <strong>the</strong> installation was made by <strong>the</strong> Japanesewife of <strong>the</strong> author, Setsuko, a fashion designer. Although this book is addressed toa broad public, it is also useful <strong>for</strong> specialists. Thus Boursin gives credit to <strong>the</strong>inventor of each individual piece, including such details that, <strong>for</strong> example, hedeveloped a frog (p. 16) using <strong>the</strong> idea of K. Kasahara. Note that many of <strong>the</strong> pieceswere invented by Boursin himself. One of <strong>the</strong> items should be made of cloth (pp.24-25). We also have some symmetry-related remarks. Boursin gives credit to LuisaCanovi of Italy <strong>for</strong> inventing a closed chain of tetrahedra that provide an excitingflexible object (pp. 36-37). This item was, however, discovered earlier <strong>out</strong>side of <strong>the</strong>world of <strong>ori</strong>gami. An early discovery of this idea is due to Paul Schatz in 1929,which was probably independently rediscovered by Schattschneider and Walker in<strong>the</strong> 1970s, see <strong>the</strong>ir book M. C. Escher Kaleidocycles (New York, 1977). Ano<strong>the</strong>rrelated object is discussed by Boursin under <strong>the</strong> name ofFleragon (p. 39). Indeed, itis a very expressive name, because <strong>the</strong> flexible chain of units <strong>for</strong>m a hexagonal


214SYMMETRO-GRAPHYshape. Boursin remarks that we can make with this object kaleidoscopic images.From a didactical point of view, it would be better to reverse <strong>the</strong>ir order: to explainfirst <strong>the</strong> Flexagon and <strong>the</strong>n to turn to <strong>the</strong> more complex chains of tetrahedra. <strong>The</strong>piece Equilibrium (pp. 50-51), designed by <strong>the</strong> author, has an interesting connectionwith <strong>the</strong> topic of symmetry. Balancing toys were popular in earlier ages: each of<strong>the</strong>se objects, usually dominated by a U shape turned upside-down, has asupporting point higher than its center of gravity. Thus, <strong>the</strong>se toys can balance on<strong>the</strong> top of various sharp objects. It is exciting to see <strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>gami version of thismechanical toy and <strong>the</strong> photograph where it balances on <strong>the</strong> top of a bottle.Ano<strong>the</strong>r item, a beautiful periodic pattern (pp. 44-45), inspired us to <strong>for</strong>mulate aresearch problem ab<strong>out</strong> symmetry groups of this type of structure. Note thatRobert Harbin’s name is misspelled on p. 38 as "Herbin". Illustrations: it isbasically a picture book with very many drawings and photographs. Address:Cr~ati0n Setsuko, 17, rue Sainte Croix de la Bretonnerie, F-75004 Paris, France.D6nes NagyHarglttai, Istv~in and Hargittai, Magdolna, Symmetry, A Unifying Concept,[Symmetry in general], Bolinas, Calif.: Shelter Publications, Inc., 1994, 222 pp.Istv~in and Magdolna Hargittai have published several books, partly as editors,partly as author, on <strong>the</strong> topic of symmetry. <strong>The</strong>y are chemists, who started <strong>the</strong>irinvestigations from <strong>the</strong> symmetry of molecules to discover fur<strong>the</strong>r symmetries of<strong>the</strong> invisible and visible world. As scientists, <strong>the</strong>y explain <strong>the</strong> regularities, patterns,and laws of hidden symmetries, while as <strong>fan</strong>s of photography, <strong>the</strong>y present <strong>the</strong>beauty of <strong>the</strong> visible ones’ to <strong>the</strong> reader.One meets symmetry in sciences, arts, and even in everyday life, never<strong>the</strong>less towrite a book on <strong>the</strong> topic conceals traps: to aim at a broad public, fromma<strong>the</strong>maticians to biologists, from physicists to linguists, from chemists to artists,from students to professors limits <strong>the</strong> scientific level; to keep high scientificstandards limits <strong>the</strong> widths of <strong>the</strong> audience. <strong>The</strong> Hargittais manoeuvre skilfullybetween <strong>the</strong>se Scylla and Charybdis, well known <strong>for</strong> any interdisciplinary author.<strong>The</strong>y ferry <strong>the</strong> reader from <strong>the</strong> point-group symmetries through <strong>the</strong> examples <strong>for</strong>antisymmetry to <strong>the</strong> space-group symmetries. <strong>The</strong>y do not sacrifice <strong>the</strong> wideunderstandability <strong>for</strong> deep scientific exactness. <strong>The</strong> basic symmetry concepts areintroduced mainly by a visual way, special terminology is mainly avoided, in o<strong>the</strong>rcases simple definitions are given. Clear drawings help <strong>the</strong> understanding. Laymanreaders can discover new connections, new patterns in <strong>the</strong> world <strong>the</strong>y had thought<strong>the</strong>y knew. One explores, step by step, <strong>the</strong> way to <strong>the</strong> most recent symmetryinspireddiscoveries <strong>like</strong> <strong>the</strong> quasicrystals showing fivefold symmetry which hasbeen not usual in <strong>the</strong> inanimate nature. <strong>The</strong> book is well illustrated with hundredsof black-and-white photos, reproductions, and drawings.Gy0rgy Darvas


216SYMMETRO-GRAPHYSYMMETRIC REVIEWS 5.2<strong>The</strong> "Symmetric Reviews" (SR), as a regular subsection, publish brief notes ab<strong>out</strong>books and papers. <strong>The</strong>se are not conventional reviews; <strong>the</strong>ir main goal is to emphasize<strong>the</strong> connections with symmetry and, in same cases, <strong>the</strong> required backgrourwLCorrespondence should preferab~v be sent to both <strong>the</strong> section editor (<strong>for</strong> reviewing) and<strong>the</strong> Symmetrion in Budapest (<strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> data bank).SR 5.2 - 1 (Origami: popular)Boursin, Didier, Pliages en mouvement, [Folding in Movement, in French], Paris:Dessain et Tolra, 1990, 79 pp.; Reprint, ibid., 1991.SR 5.2 - 2 (Interdisciplinary book: popular)Hargittai, Istv~in and Hargittai, Magdoina, Symmetry: A Unifying Concept,Bolinas, Calif.: Shelter Publications, Inc., 1994, 222 pp.<strong>The</strong> authors of this books are Hungarian chemists, husband and wife. Istv~inHargittai is a Honorary Member of ISIS-Symmetry; see <strong>the</strong> list of his symmetryrelatedbooks in this quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 3, p. 324. <strong>The</strong> new book of <strong>the</strong> Hargittaiscovers various aspects of symmetry in art and science. It is addressed to a very broadpublic using <strong>the</strong> advantage of large number of illustrations. This book is reviewedin more details; see <strong>the</strong> section "Book review". Illustrations: 850. References: tobooks 29, to illustrations 177. Address: E0tv0s Lorhnd University, P.O. Box 117,Budapest, H-1431 Hungary.SR 5.2 - 3 (Origami: popular)Pataki, Tibor, Hajtogatni j6, [Folding is Exciting, in Hungarian], Budapest:Gyorsjelent~s Kiad6 Kft., 1993, 79 pp.This book belongs to <strong>the</strong> rare category of Western books on <strong>ori</strong>gami where <strong>the</strong>maj<strong>ori</strong>ty of <strong>the</strong> pieces are designed by <strong>the</strong> author himself, and <strong>the</strong>re are only veryfew adaptations. In those cases <strong>the</strong> author refers to <strong>the</strong> sources, which are ei<strong>the</strong>rtraditional <strong>ori</strong>gami items or <strong>the</strong> works of modern inventors. <strong>The</strong> book starts with atwo-page preface by a noted Hungarian author, G~ibor N6gr~di. Pataki himself iseven shorter: his introduction is just a half-page. <strong>The</strong> rest of <strong>the</strong> book is dominatedby figures with brief notes. First of all Pataki explains <strong>the</strong> notations and presents<strong>the</strong> four basic folding operations. After <strong>the</strong>se, he creates almost an entire <strong>ori</strong>gamizoo with very many animals. <strong>The</strong>re are a few o<strong>the</strong>r objects: a sailing boat, a piano, aSanta Claus, a decoration <strong>for</strong> Christmas-tree, a steam boat, a fighter, an envelope,three masks, a geisha, a flying machine, a clown, and a rocket. Altoge<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>re are40 pieces in <strong>the</strong> book. Some of <strong>the</strong> animals feature in more than one work. Forexample, <strong>the</strong> book presents a running rabbit, <strong>the</strong>n a sitting one. It is followed by afox, and we think that children may immediately create st<strong>ori</strong>es with <strong>the</strong>se animals.In Hungary <strong>ori</strong>gami paper is not widely available, <strong>the</strong>re<strong>for</strong>e <strong>the</strong> book includes at<strong>the</strong> back 12 sheets. <strong>The</strong> front side of each <strong>the</strong>se square-shaped <strong>ori</strong>gami papers is


SYMMETRO-GRAPHY217yellow, while <strong>the</strong> back side is white. <strong>The</strong>se colors help <strong>the</strong> author to better explain<strong>the</strong> process of folding. Specifically, <strong>the</strong> drawings clearly indicate when we shouldwork with <strong>the</strong> yellow front side of <strong>the</strong> paper, and when with <strong>the</strong> white back side. In<strong>the</strong> beginning <strong>the</strong> author consistently uses this helpful ’color coding’, but later hefrequently violates it: thus, <strong>the</strong> back side is sometimes gray, while in o<strong>the</strong>r cases <strong>the</strong>background (<strong>the</strong> table) is yellow and <strong>the</strong> two sides are distinguished by white andgray colors. In a possible new edition of <strong>the</strong> book, we suggest being more consistentin col<strong>ori</strong>ng <strong>the</strong> figures, which is, indeed, a very useful idea. <strong>The</strong> book includes colorphotographs of <strong>the</strong> objects: <strong>the</strong>se are collected in a section at <strong>the</strong> middle. <strong>The</strong>captions of <strong>the</strong>se photographs clearly refer to <strong>the</strong> page numbers where <strong>the</strong> foldingprocesses are explained. One may claim that it would be better to have <strong>the</strong>photographs of <strong>the</strong> pieces and <strong>the</strong> corresponding drawings of <strong>the</strong> folding processesside by side, but that arrangement would make <strong>the</strong> book much more expensive. Wesuggest supplementing any possible new edition of <strong>the</strong> book with a table ofcontents. Illustrations: ab<strong>out</strong> 800 drawings and 30 color photographs. Address:Budapest, Kir~ily u. 67. V.em. 3., H-1077 Hungary.D6nes NagyPeacock by T. Pataki. (See <strong>the</strong> folding instructions in Symmetry: Culture and Science, 5 (1994), 1, 88-89.)


218 SYMMETRO-GRAPHYSparrow by T. Pataki. (See <strong>the</strong> folding instructions in Symmetry: Culture and Science, 5 (1994), 1, 94-95.)Tree-frog by T. Pataki. (See <strong>the</strong> folding instructions in Symmetry: Culture and Science, 5 (1994), 1, 92-93.)


Syraraetry: Culture and ScienceVoL 5, No. 2, 219-223, 1994SFS: SYMMETRIC FORUM OF THE SOCIETY(BULLETIN BOARD)All correspondence should be addressed to <strong>the</strong> editors: G~yOrgy Darvas or Ddnes Nagy.ANNOUNCEMENTSSECOND INTERNATIONAL MEETING OFORIGAMI SCIENCE AND SCIENTIFIC ORIGAMINovember 29 - December 2, 1994Otsu, Shiga, JapanSCOPE AND TOPICSOrigami no longer means only <strong>ori</strong>zuru, a folded paper crane, <strong>the</strong> mostrepresentative example of a classic style work, but is <strong>the</strong> proper subject ofma<strong>the</strong>matics and involves <strong>the</strong> field of science and technology, which havedeveloped <strong>the</strong> new idea of <strong>ori</strong>gami art. <strong>The</strong> first <strong>International</strong> Meeting of OrigamiScience and Technology, held at Ferrara, Italy, in 1989, was <strong>the</strong> result of thisinvolvement.Because of this good first step, it was desired to have <strong>the</strong> second meeting in Japan,<strong>the</strong> home of Origami. <strong>The</strong>re<strong>for</strong>e, it has been decided to have this event in <strong>the</strong> CityOtsu, near Kyoto, from November 29 to December 2, 1994.<strong>The</strong> aim of this meeting is to bring toge<strong>the</strong>r specialists in <strong>ori</strong>gami science andscientific <strong>ori</strong>gami. It is intended to provide <strong>the</strong> participants with in<strong>for</strong>mation ab<strong>out</strong><strong>the</strong> important topics.<strong>The</strong> contributed papers may cover <strong>ori</strong>gami science and scientific <strong>ori</strong>gami. However,’science’ includes wider fields, in particular, ma<strong>the</strong>matical foundations of <strong>ori</strong>gami,natural <strong>for</strong>ms and <strong>ori</strong>gami, classical vs. modern <strong>ori</strong>gami, <strong>ori</strong>gami art, <strong>ori</strong>gami andindustrial design, Euclidean geometry and <strong>ori</strong>gami axiom, <strong>ori</strong>gami and algebra,education and <strong>the</strong>rapy by <strong>ori</strong>gami, ma<strong>the</strong>matical design of <strong>ori</strong>gami, paper materials,curve folds modular <strong>ori</strong>gami, definition of <strong>ori</strong>gami, etc.


220 SFSParticipating OrganizationsArs +, Asociacion Espanola de Papiroflexia, British Origami <strong>Society</strong>, CentroDiffusione Origami (C.D.O.), Dansk Origami Center, ISIS-Symmetry, KoreaJongie Jupgi Association, Mouvement Francais des Plieurs de Papier (M.F.P.P.),Nippon Origami Association, Origami Deutschland (O.D.), <strong>The</strong> Board ofEducation, City of Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, <strong>The</strong> Form and Culture <strong>Society</strong>, <strong>The</strong>Friends of <strong>the</strong> Origami Center of America, <strong>The</strong> <strong>Society</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> Science of Form.CALL FOR PAPERSSYMPOSIUM: Origami: East and Westwill be organized in <strong>the</strong> framework of <strong>the</strong> following congress and exhibition:S YMME TRY."NATURAL AND ARTIFICIALThird Interdisciplinary Symmetry Congress and Exhibition of <strong>the</strong>INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY OFSYMMETRY (ISIS-SYMMETRY)August 14- 20, 1995Old Town Alexandria (near Washington, D.C.) U.S~4.CALL FOR PAPERS, WORKSHOP TOPICS, ANDEXHIBITION ITEMSFIELDS OF INTERESTSYMMETRY: NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL<strong>The</strong> congress and exhibition present a broad interdisciplinary <strong>for</strong>um where <strong>the</strong> representativesof various fields in art, science, and technology may discuss and enrich<strong>the</strong>ir experiences. <strong>The</strong> concept symmetry, having roots in both art and science, helpsto provide a ’common language’ <strong>for</strong> this purpose. <strong>The</strong> new ’bridges’ between disciplinescould inspire fur<strong>the</strong>r ideas in <strong>the</strong> <strong>ori</strong>ginal fields of participants, as well asfacilitate <strong>the</strong> adaptation of existing ideas and methods from one fieM to ano<strong>the</strong>r.<strong>The</strong> title of <strong>the</strong> congress emphasizes <strong>the</strong> presence of symmetry (dissymmetry, brokensymmetry) both in nature and in <strong>the</strong> objects created by artists, scientists, and engineers.


SYMMETRIC FORUM OF THE SOCIETY 221Exhibition: Ars Scientifica<strong>The</strong>re have been several exhibitions representing <strong>the</strong> specific impact of certainfields of science and technology on art, but ISIS-Symmetry has initiated a regular<strong>for</strong>um <strong>for</strong> a broader interface of art and science. <strong>The</strong> exhibition will consist of twoparts: a professional exhibition and an in<strong>for</strong>mal one, based on <strong>the</strong> objects illustrating<strong>the</strong> lectures given by <strong>the</strong> participants. Some workshops will be conducted in <strong>the</strong>exhibition rooms. SPECIAL INTERESTS ofArs Scientifica are, among o<strong>the</strong>rs: kaleidoscopes,polyhedra, model designs, new media.CALL FOR PAPERSA lecture proposal should include a maximum 4-page extended abstract in a cameraready version. Keeping in mind <strong>the</strong> interdisciplinary goals of <strong>the</strong> congress and <strong>the</strong>composition of <strong>the</strong> participants, please try to help <strong>the</strong> readers <strong>out</strong>side of your maindiscipline e.g., by explaining some special concepts, using intuitive approaches, orgiving comprehensive tables and illustrations. <strong>The</strong> extended abstracts should ei<strong>the</strong>r(a) describe concrete interdisciplinary ’bridges’ between different fields of art, science,and technology using <strong>the</strong> concept of symmetry; or (b) survey <strong>the</strong> importanceof symmetry in a concrete field with an emphasis on possible ’bridges’ to o<strong>the</strong>rfields. Note, please, that <strong>the</strong> central topic of <strong>the</strong> present congress Symmetry:Natural and Artificial opens a wider door towards technological applications.Papers discussing links between any <strong>for</strong>m of symmetry-asymmetry phenomenon orlaw in nature on <strong>the</strong> one side, and artistic, technical achievements on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r, arepreferred. Please consider tlxat <strong>the</strong> meetings of ISIS-Symmetry are in<strong>for</strong>mal and donot substitute <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> disciplinary conferences, only supplement <strong>the</strong>m with abroader perspective.<strong>The</strong> extended abstracts should be submitted in 2 copies, mailed 1 each to G. Darvasand D. Nagy, on A4 or letter size pages, printed on one side of each sheet, with atleast 2.5 cm (1 inch) margins both sides, top and bottom, double spaced, 12-pointcharacters.Sample:TITLE WITH CAPITAL LE’Iq"ERS[two line-spaces]Joe Symmetrist and Josephine AsymmetristDepartment of Dissymmetry, Fibonacci UniversitySan Symmetrino, SY 12358, SymmetrylandE-mail: symmetrist @ fibonacci.edu[two line-spaces]<strong>The</strong> text should be printed in one column. Figures (black-and-white only) mayinterrupt <strong>the</strong> text. Please avoid using any o<strong>the</strong>r heading (e.g., ’Extended Abstract’,’submitted to ...’). Page numbers should be marked with pencil.References [at <strong>the</strong> end]: Alphabetical order, full bibliographic description.


222 SFSFor more details refer to <strong>the</strong> "Instructions <strong>for</strong> contributors" on pp. 110-111.CALL FOR EXHIBITION ITEMSItems <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> exhibitions should be introduced in <strong>the</strong> same <strong>for</strong>m as lecture-abstractson A4 or letter size sheets, in black-and-white camera ready, reproducible <strong>for</strong>m.Please mark with pencil at <strong>the</strong> top of <strong>the</strong> sheet: (EXHIBITION). A short descriptionand/or explanation of <strong>the</strong> items, as well as <strong>the</strong> connection to <strong>the</strong> main <strong>the</strong>me of<strong>the</strong> congress and exhibition, is preferred. Please give <strong>the</strong> dimensions of each item.Art works, models, demonstration materials, etc. are welcome, e.g., in <strong>the</strong> followingsections: Kaleidoscopes, Polyhedral symmetry, Origami, <strong>The</strong> beauty of molecules,Aes<strong>the</strong>tics of man-made constructions, Mechanical structures inspired by nature:Artificial and natural structures, Design principles, New Media. Proposals <strong>for</strong>fur<strong>the</strong>r sections are encouraged.CALL FOR WORKSHOP TOPICSPlease give <strong>the</strong> approximate title, short description (how do you plan to organize<strong>the</strong> workshop), o<strong>the</strong>r expected/proposed contributors, etc. Proposals emphasizinginteractions, mediated by symmetry, between different disciplines; science, art, andtechnology; cultural <strong>ori</strong>gins, and relying upon <strong>the</strong> interest of participants with differentbackgrounds, are preferred.CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR EVENING ACTMTIES OR PERFORMANCESMusic, dance, video, laser, paper folding, etc. programs are welcome. Please submityour proposals, similar to <strong>the</strong> lecture abstracts, with descriptions of <strong>the</strong> feasibilityand <strong>the</strong> technical requirements. Please mark with pencil at <strong>the</strong> top of <strong>the</strong> sheet:(PERFORMANCE), (VIDEO), etc., respectively. (Formal requirements are <strong>the</strong>same as above <strong>for</strong> papers.)DEADLINES<strong>for</strong> application and short description of contribution and o<strong>the</strong>r proposals:December 15, 1994;<strong>for</strong> submitting final (camera ready) versions of <strong>the</strong> emended abstracts:March 31, 1995.


SYMMETRIC FORUM OF THE SOCIETY 223THE FORMAT OF THE CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION<strong>The</strong> tradition, initiated by ISIS-Symmetry, to facilitate interdisciplinary dialoguesamong scientists, engineers, and artists will be continued. <strong>The</strong>re will be no parallelsections (which would lead to disciplinary separation of <strong>the</strong> participants), but eachmorning <strong>the</strong>re will be plenary sessions, while <strong>the</strong> main ideas will be discussed anddeveloped in afternoon workshops. For <strong>the</strong> evenings <strong>the</strong>re are scheduled per<strong>for</strong>mancesand in<strong>for</strong>mal meetings, including recreational, and ars scientifica programs.<strong>The</strong> working language of <strong>the</strong> congress is English.<strong>The</strong> Scientific Advisory Committee of <strong>the</strong> Congress and Exhibition is <strong>the</strong> Board ofISIS-Symmetry (see inside front and back covers).CONTACT PERSONS (<strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> Congress and Exhibition)Martha Pardavi-Horvath, Site CoordinatorGeorge Washington UniversityDepartment of Electrical Engineering and Computer ScienceWashington, D.C. 20052, U.S.A.Phone: 1-202-994-5516; Fax: 1-202-994-5296; E-mail: pardavi@seas.gwu.eduGy0rgy Darvas, Executive Secretary, ISIS-SymmetrySymmetrion - <strong>The</strong> Institute <strong>for</strong> Advanced Symmetry StudiesP.O. Box 4, Budapest, H-1361 HungaryPhone:36-1-131-8326; Fax: 36-1-131-3161; E-mail: h492dar@ella.huD6nes Na~, President, ISIS-SymmetryInstitute of Applied Physics, University of TsukubaTsukuba Science City, Ibaraki-ken 305, JapanPhone: 81-298-53-6786; Fax: 81-298-53-5205; E-mail: nagy@bk.tsukuba.ac.ipAPPLICATION FORMName: ......................................................................................................................................Affiliation: ..............................................................................................................................Mailing Address: ....................................................................................................................City: ............................................................... State/country: ...............................................Fax: ................................. Phone: ................................. E-mail: ............................................I intend to: © attend <strong>the</strong> Congress © submit a paper © exhibitTentative title of my contribution: .....................................................................................


224 AIMS AND SCOPE<strong>The</strong>re are many disciplinary _periodicals and symposia in various fields of art, science, and technology, but broadiaterdisciplioary <strong>for</strong>ums <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> connections tmtween distant fields are ve~, rare. Consequently, tl~e interdisciplinarypapers are dispersed in very different j.ournals and proceedings. Th~s fact makes <strong>the</strong> cooperation of <strong>the</strong>authors dilficult, and even affects <strong>the</strong> ability to locate <strong>the</strong>ir papers.In our ’split culture’, <strong>the</strong>re is an obvious need <strong>for</strong> interdisciplinary journals that have <strong>the</strong> basic goal of buildingbridges (’symmetries’) between various fields of <strong>the</strong> arts and sciences. Because o[ <strong>the</strong> variety of topics available,<strong>the</strong> concrete, but general, concept of symmetry was selected as <strong>the</strong> focus of tbe journal, since it has roots in bothscience and art._SYl~t~Rlq,_ CULTURF.. AIgD SCIENCE is <strong>the</strong> quarterly .of <strong>the</strong> It¢’r~_I~C,~TIOI¢~_SO~.I~. ]~oR ~ INTERDISCI~PLIN~_ y¯ ~’TUDYOFb’YJO~TRY (abbreviation: ISIS-Symmetry, shorter name: ~ymmemy ~’o¢iety). ISIS=s]t, mmetry was roundedduring <strong>the</strong> symposium Symmetry of Smacture .(First lnterdiscipFauzry Symme_ tty Sympos~ura and Exhibition),Budapest, August 1:3-19, 1989. <strong>The</strong> focus of ISIS=Symmetry is not only on <strong>the</strong> concept of symmetry, but also itsassociates (asymmetry, dissymmetry, antisymmetry, etc.) and related concepts (proportion, rhythm, invariance,etc.) in an ~nterdisciplinary and intercultural co.ntext. We may refer to this broad approach to <strong>the</strong> concept assyrn~trolog),. <strong>The</strong> suffix -1o~ can be associated not only with knowledge of concrete fields (cf., biology, geology,philologyj psychology, sociology, etc.) and discourse or treatise (cf., methodology, chronology, etc.), butalso with <strong>the</strong> Greek terminology of proportion (cf., logos, analogia, and <strong>the</strong>ir Latin translations ratio,i~rol~o~io).<strong>The</strong> basic goals of <strong>the</strong> Soci¢o~ are(1) to bnng toge<strong>the</strong>r artists and scientists, educators and students devoted to, or interested in, <strong>the</strong> researchand understanding of <strong>the</strong> concept and application of symmetry (asymmeh’y, dissymmetry);(2) to provide regular in<strong>for</strong>mation to <strong>the</strong> general public ab<strong>out</strong> events in symmetrology;_,(3.) to ensure a regular <strong>for</strong>nm (including tr~e organization of symposia, congresses, and <strong>the</strong> publication of aperiodical) <strong>for</strong> all those interested in symmetrology.<strong>The</strong> <strong>Society</strong> organizes <strong>the</strong> triennial Interdisciplinary S_ym/~.Fy Congress and Exhibition Cstarting with <strong>the</strong> symposiumof 1989) and o<strong>the</strong>r workshop, meetings, and exhibitmns. <strong>The</strong> <strong>for</strong>ums of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Society</strong> are in<strong>for</strong>mal ones,which do not su~titute <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> disciplinary conferences, only supplement <strong>the</strong>m with a broader perspective.<strong>The</strong> Quarterly - a non-commercial scholarly journal, as well as <strong>the</strong> <strong>for</strong>um of ISIS-Symmetry - publishes <strong>ori</strong>ginalpapers on symmetry and related questions wliich present nov results or nov connections between known results.<strong>The</strong> papers are addressed to a broad non-speciahst public, with<strong>out</strong> becoming too general, and have an interdisciplinarycharacter in one of <strong>the</strong> following senses:O) <strong>the</strong>y describe concrete interdisciplinary ’bridges’ between different fields of art, science, and technologyusing <strong>the</strong> concept of symmetry;,(2) <strong>the</strong>y survey <strong>the</strong> importance of symmetry in a concrete field with an emphasis on possible ’bridges’ to o<strong>the</strong>rfields.<strong>The</strong> Quarterly also has a special interest in hist<strong>ori</strong>c and educational questions, as well as in symmetry-relatedrecreations, games, and computer programs.<strong>The</strong> regular sections of <strong>the</strong> Quarterly:Symmetry: Culture & Science (papers classified as humanities, but also connected with scientific questions)Symmetry: Science & Culture (papers classified as science, but also connected with <strong>the</strong> humanities)¯ Symraetry In Education (articles on <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>ory and practice of education reports on interdisciplinarypro’ects)¯ SF~: Symmetric Forum of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Society</strong> (calendar of events, announcements o[ ISIS-Symmetry, news frommembers, announcements of projects and publications)¯ Symmetro-graphy (biblio/disco/sogtware/ludo/hist<strong>ori</strong>o-graphies, re, cloys of books and papers, notes onanniversaries)Additional non-regular sections:¯ Symmetrospective: A Hist<strong>ori</strong>c View (survey articles, recollections, reprints or English translations of basicpapers)¯ Symmetry: A Special I~o~us on ... (round table discussions or survey articles with comments on topics ofspecial interest)Symmetric Gallery (works of art)Mosaic of Symmetry (short papers within a discipline, but appealing to broader interest)¯ Research Problems o/~ Symmetry (brief descriptions of opei~’problems)¯ Recreational Symmetry (problems, puzzles, games, computer programs, descriptions of scientific toys;<strong>for</strong> example, filings, polyhedra, and <strong>ori</strong>gami)¯ Reflections: Letters ~o <strong>the</strong> Editors (comments on papers, letters of general interest)Both <strong>the</strong> lack of seasonal references and <strong>the</strong> centrosymmetric spine design emphasize <strong>the</strong> international characterof <strong>the</strong> <strong>Society</strong>; to accept one or ano<strong>the</strong>r convention would be a ’symmetry ~iolation’. In <strong>the</strong> first part of <strong>the</strong>abbreviation ISIS-Symmetry all <strong>the</strong> letters are capitalized, while <strong>the</strong> centrosymmetric image iSIS! on <strong>the</strong> spine isflanked by ’Symmetry’ from both directions. This convention emphasizes that ISIS=symmetry and its quarterlyhave no direct connection with o<strong>the</strong>r organizations or journals which also use <strong>the</strong> word Isis or ISIS. <strong>The</strong>re aremore than twenty identical acronyms andmore than ten such periodicals, many of which have already ceased toexist, representing various fields, including <strong>the</strong> history of science, mythology, natural philosophy, and <strong>ori</strong>entalstudies. ISIS-Symmetry has, however, some interest in <strong>the</strong> symmetry-related questions of many of <strong>the</strong>se fields.


German). FR Andreas Dress, Fakuhat ~ur Ma<strong>the</strong>mauk,Umvers=tat Blelefeld,D-33615 Btelefeld I, Fosffach 8640, F R Germany[Geome{ry, Ma<strong>the</strong>mauzatmn of Sc,ence]<strong>The</strong>n Hahn, lasutut fur Kristallographle,Rhem~sch-WestF;ihsche Technische Hochschule,D-W-5110 Aachen, FR Germany[Mineralogy, Crystallography]Hungary. M~h~tly Szoboszlai, l~pit6szm~rnok~ Kar,Budapesu M,3szak~ Eg2/etem(Faculty of Arch*tecture, Techmcal Umvers*ty of Budapest),Budapest, P.O Box 91, H-1521 Hungary[Architecture, Geometry, Computer Aided Arch.ectural Des*gn]Italy Giuseppe Caglioli, Ist.uto d~ Ingegneria Nucleate -CESNEE Pohtecmco d* Mdan, Vm Ponzm 34/3.1-20133 Mllano. Italy[Nuclear Pb.3,sics, Visual Psychology]Poland" Janusz R~;bielak, Wydzml Arch*tektury,Pohtechmka Wmc~aw~ka(Department of Architecture, Techmcal Umvers*ty of Wrc.ct’aw),ul B. Pmsa 53155. PL 50-317 Wrocl’aw, Poland[Architecture, Morphology or" Space StructuresJPortugal Josd Lima--de-Faria. Centro de Crtstalografiae Mmeralogla, Iasntuto de Invest~ga¢:~o Cientifica Tropical,Alameda D Afonso HennqOes 41.4.°Esq , P-1000 Lisbon,Portugal[Crystallography, Mineralogy. H,story of Sc*ence]Romama" Solomon Marcus, Facultatea de Matematica,Unlvegsihatea dm Bucure~tl(Faculty of Ma<strong>the</strong>matms, Umversity of Bucharest),Str Academ*el 14, R-70109 Bucure~it~ (Bucharest), Romama[Ma<strong>the</strong>matical Analysm. Ma<strong>the</strong>matical Lmgmstms and Poetics.Ma<strong>the</strong>mahcal Scm~oucs of Natural and Sccla} Sciences}Russia" Vladimir A. Koptsik, F*z*chesku fakultet,Moskovskll gosudarstvenny, umversltel(Physmal Faculty, Moscow State Umver~,b, )117234 Moskva. Russ*aI Crystalphysms]Scandinavia. Tuft 9,’~ster, Sksvelaborat~,net,Baerende Konstruktioner, Kongelige DaaskeKunstakadem, - Ark~tektskole(Laboratory <strong>for</strong> Plate Structures, Department of StructuralSmence, Royal Damsh Academy - School of Arch.ecture),Peder Skramsgade 1, DK-1054 Kobenhavn K (Copenhagen),Denmark [Polyhedral Structures. Biomechamcs]Swttzerland. Caspar Schwah¢. Ars GeometncaRfim,strasse 5, CH-8024 Zhnch, Sw~taerlandIArs GeometricalU K " Mary Harris, Maths ra Work Project,Insutute of Educauon, University of London,20 Bed<strong>for</strong>d Way. London WCIH 0AL. England[Geometry, Ethnoma<strong>the</strong>maties, Textile Design]Anthony Hill. 24 Charlotte Street. London WI. England[Visual Arts. Ma<strong>the</strong>matms and Art]Yugoslavm: Sla’vik V. Jablan, Matemau~.ki mstnut(Ma<strong>the</strong>mattcal Institute), Knez Mlhaflova 35, pp 367,YU-II001 Beograd (Belgrade), Yugoslavia[Geometry, Ornamental Art, Anthropology]Cha~rperso~ ofArt and Sctence F_xhtbittons L.’iszl6 Beke,Magyar Nemzett Gal6rta (Hungarran Nauonal Gallery),Budapest, Buda~ri Palota, H-1014 HungaryItsuo Sak~ne, Faculty of Env*ronmentalIn<strong>for</strong>mation, Keio Umversity at Shoran Fujtsawa Campus,5322 Endoh, Fuj,sawa 252, JapanCognmve Science Douglas R. Hofstadter, Center <strong>for</strong> Researchon Concepts and Cognition. Ind~ara Unlvers*ty,Bloomington, lndmnz 47408, U S,AComputmg and Apphed Ma<strong>the</strong>mattcs Sergei P. Kurdyumov.Insutut pr~kladnot matematlk~ ~m. M V Keldysha RAN(M V Keldysh lastilute of Apphed Ma<strong>the</strong>matrcs. RussmnAcademy of Sciences). 125047 Mosk’~a, Miusskaya pl. 4, RussmEducatton. Peter Klein, FB E~ehungsw~sseaschafi.Umvers~tat Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 8,D-20146 Hamburg 13. F R. GermanyHzstory and Phdosophy of Science" Klaus Mainzer,Lehrstuhl ~ur Philosoph~e, Umversltat Augsburg,Umvers~mLsstr. 10, D-W-8900 Augsburg, F R GermanyProJect ChatrpersonsArchttecture and Mustc Emanuel Dimas de Melo Pimento,Run T~eruo Galvan, Lute 5B - 2 °C, P-1200 Lisbon, FonugalArt and Biology Werner Hahn, Waldweg 8, D-35075Gladenbach, FR GermanyEvolutton of <strong>the</strong> Umverse: Jan Mnzrzymas, [nstytut Flzyk~.Umwersytet Wroct’awski(Insmute of <strong>The</strong>oreucal Physics, Umvers~ty of Wroctaw),ul Cybulskiego 36, PL 50-205 Wrocl’aw, Pc, landH~gher-D~menstonal Graphics Koji Miyazak~,Department of Graphms, College of L~beral Arts.Kyoto Umvers~ty, YosMda, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606. JapanKnovdedge Representatton by Meta.strucmres Ted Goranson,S~nus Incorporated. 1976 Munden Point, V~rgmm Beach,VA 23457-1227. U.S A.Pattern Ma<strong>the</strong>mattcs Berl Zaslow,Department of Chemistry, Arizona State Umverstty. Tempe,AZ 85287-1604, U S A.Polyhedral Trans<strong>for</strong>mations Haresh Lalvani,School of Arch.ecture, Pratt Insutute, 200 Wdloughby Avenue,Brooklyn, NY 11205, U S AProportion and Harmony m Arts S. K, Hemnger, Jr.Department of Enghsh, Umvers~ty of Norlh Carolina at ChapelHdl, Chapel Hill. NC 27599-3520, U S A.Shape Grammar" George Stiny, Graduate School of Architectureand Urban Planmng, Umvers~ty of Cah<strong>for</strong>ma Los Angeles,Los Angeles, CA 90024-1467, U.S.A.Space Structures. Koryo M~ura, 3-9-7 Tsurukawa, Mach~da,Tokyo 195, JapanTibor Tarnai, Techmcal Umvers~ty of Budapest,Depanmem of C~vtl Engineering Mechamcs.Budapest, Mfegyetem rkp. 3, H-IIII HungaryLiaison PersonsAndra Akers (Internattonal Synergy Institute)Stephen G. Davies (Journal Tetrahedran Assyrnmetry)Bruno Gruber (Symposta Symmetries m Science)Alajos K~lm~in (lnternattonal Umon of Crystallography)Roger F. Malina (Journal Leonardo and lnternauonal <strong>Society</strong> <strong>for</strong><strong>the</strong> Arts, Sciences, and Technology)Tohru Ogawa and Ryuji Takaki (Journal Forma and Socmty [’orScmnce on Form)Dennis Sharp (Curule6 lnternauonal des Cn.quesd’A rch~tecture)Erz.~bet Tusa (INTART Socmty)


ISiS-SymmetryBudapest, P.O. Box 4H-1361 HungaryCALL FORPAPERS AND WORKSHOP TOPICSSYMMETRY:NATURAL AND ARTIFICIALThird InterdisciplinarySymmetry Congressof <strong>the</strong>INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FORTHE INTERDISCIPLINARYSTUDY OF SYMMETRY(ISIS-SYMMETRY)August 14-20, 1995Old Town Alexandria(near Washington, D.C.)U.S.A.aq~ .~ouo!qq!qx~[ Laomm£SLn;u!ld!os!p~muI P~!qz:A~LLCJIAIINASS V~J~ I NOLLKtlHX~~oa ~qvD~6unHf, xo8 "O’d ’lsedepn~]fu~,em LuAS-S~S~

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