Perspective of origami for NonFolders, now and in the future
Posted: January 8th, 2018, 6:14 am
Hello origamists!
Quite a long title, huh? Then get ready for a long post.
I've been thinking about this for a while and I would like to hear the opinion of other folders.
I predict that in the future, so many things, like furniture, architecture, robots, etc, will be "origami inspired," that society will forget what origami actually is.
I'm not necessarily trying to state this as a negative thing, but does it feel like to anybody else that whenever something can fold up or is made of polygons instead of curves, the internet describes it as "origami-inspired" or "uses the principles of origami?"
First of all, I encourage you to look up "origami inspired furniture" on google images. You will find pictures of sleek, modern, shelves, tables, chairs, etc. They look nice, right? Futuristic. Cool. Hipster.
Then look at this article: https://pixel77.com/25-amazing-origami- ... d-designs/ . Again, don't those buildings look like the homes of the future? Just take a second to imagine yourself living and waking up in one of those structures.
As for the robots, I'm sure you've all seen them by now. My mom's friends have sent her MIT articles about them for her to show me countless times. Some of those articles describe the robots as if they are going to revolutionize the world (which they might) in the name of "the principles of origami."
These three examples are only a portion of what is and will be inspired by origami, and the popularity of these hipster futuristic design styles is only going to get more and more mainstream. But so what? Who cares if society likes making everything triangular instead of round? What does it matter if robots will be able to fold and unfold themselves?
Because all of the above mentioned things aren't actually origami. Do those chairs look like a crane or a Satoshi Kamiya model? Obviously not, but it's still a fair point. Things that are actually origami like traditionals or Satoshi Kamiya models will be replaced by things only origami inspired. Furthermore, how are those chairs "origami inspired?" Some of those chairs aren't even folding chairs! At that point, the only thing that those non-folding chairs have in common with origami is that they both are ploygonal (which is essentially anything made of shapes). Without a clear boundary of what is origami-inspired and what isn't, there is a risk for anything, like honeycombs or diamond rings, to be considered "origami-inspired." Another thing, when was the last time you saw a geometric Satoshi Kamiya model? After researching about Papertrophy and other paper craft, I've realized that those furniture objects are more inspired by paper craft than origami. So even if people can tell the difference between origami and paper craft, can people tell the difference between "origami inspired" and "paper craft inspired?"
Now, please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that "origami inspired" things are bad. The furniture and architecture look beautiful, and I'm sure that those clever robots will be mainstream in the future. What I am saying, is that origami is at risk of society misconceiving what it is.
Do you agree or disagree with me? Any other thoughts?
Regardless whether or not you agree, one thing is for certain. The public opinion of origami is going to change. When this happens, what will our perspective be? What is origami to us now?
Quite a long title, huh? Then get ready for a long post.
I've been thinking about this for a while and I would like to hear the opinion of other folders.
I predict that in the future, so many things, like furniture, architecture, robots, etc, will be "origami inspired," that society will forget what origami actually is.
I'm not necessarily trying to state this as a negative thing, but does it feel like to anybody else that whenever something can fold up or is made of polygons instead of curves, the internet describes it as "origami-inspired" or "uses the principles of origami?"
First of all, I encourage you to look up "origami inspired furniture" on google images. You will find pictures of sleek, modern, shelves, tables, chairs, etc. They look nice, right? Futuristic. Cool. Hipster.
Then look at this article: https://pixel77.com/25-amazing-origami- ... d-designs/ . Again, don't those buildings look like the homes of the future? Just take a second to imagine yourself living and waking up in one of those structures.
As for the robots, I'm sure you've all seen them by now. My mom's friends have sent her MIT articles about them for her to show me countless times. Some of those articles describe the robots as if they are going to revolutionize the world (which they might) in the name of "the principles of origami."
These three examples are only a portion of what is and will be inspired by origami, and the popularity of these hipster futuristic design styles is only going to get more and more mainstream. But so what? Who cares if society likes making everything triangular instead of round? What does it matter if robots will be able to fold and unfold themselves?
Because all of the above mentioned things aren't actually origami. Do those chairs look like a crane or a Satoshi Kamiya model? Obviously not, but it's still a fair point. Things that are actually origami like traditionals or Satoshi Kamiya models will be replaced by things only origami inspired. Furthermore, how are those chairs "origami inspired?" Some of those chairs aren't even folding chairs! At that point, the only thing that those non-folding chairs have in common with origami is that they both are ploygonal (which is essentially anything made of shapes). Without a clear boundary of what is origami-inspired and what isn't, there is a risk for anything, like honeycombs or diamond rings, to be considered "origami-inspired." Another thing, when was the last time you saw a geometric Satoshi Kamiya model? After researching about Papertrophy and other paper craft, I've realized that those furniture objects are more inspired by paper craft than origami. So even if people can tell the difference between origami and paper craft, can people tell the difference between "origami inspired" and "paper craft inspired?"
Now, please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that "origami inspired" things are bad. The furniture and architecture look beautiful, and I'm sure that those clever robots will be mainstream in the future. What I am saying, is that origami is at risk of society misconceiving what it is.
Do you agree or disagree with me? Any other thoughts?
Regardless whether or not you agree, one thing is for certain. The public opinion of origami is going to change. When this happens, what will our perspective be? What is origami to us now?