5. The end … or the beginning?

I hope that this short series of articles has persuaded you that origami can be thought of as geometry in action. Of course, you don’t have to think consciously about the mathematics as you fold: your folding can still be for art, craft, expression or, even, just for fun!

Each article had a model that used the principle discussed in the article. Although you can fold the models as instructed, I believe that you’ll gain more pleasure and enjoyment if you play with them. For example

  • For the Starfish model, what other rectangles would work? How many units are needed as a minimum? Beyond making a model that works, what combination of particular rectangles look good?

  • The Cube From Thirds is an approximation. The bigger the paper, the bigger the error will be. Do you think that the error is acceptable? If not, how accurate can folding ever be? If yes, how bad can an error be before it becomes unacceptable?

These kind of questions can stimulate creativity and act as points of departure for new exploration. I hope that you will be curious and want to explore.

If you are particularly pleased with your discoveries, please let me know at tklorigami@yahoo.co.uk.

Acknowledgements

This series has been inspired by ideas and publications by, amongst others, Shuzo Fujimoto, Mick Guy, Koshiro HATORI, Tom Hull, Kunihiko Kasahara, Liz Meenan, T. Sundara Row and David Wells. Grateful thanks also due to Dave Brill, Tomoko Fuse, Michel Grand, Robert Neale, Mike Ollerton, Francis Ow and Sue Pope.