Flowers from Cassandra's garden
04-09-04 6:18a 538.5KB
At the Building Museum, site of the Origami show/workshop.
04-10-04 10:19a 721.5KB
At the entrance to the show/workshop.
04-10-04 10:24a 648.3KB
The floor display of many of Kazukiyo Kurosu's creations.
04-10-04 10:25a 772.8KB
Kazukiyo Kurosu's Notre Dame Cathedral (notice the image of the cutout)
04-10-04 10:25a 687.6KB
Kazukiyo Kurosu's Osaka Castle
04-10-04 10:26a 512.4KB
Kazukiyo Kurosu's Empire State Building.
04-10-04 10:26a 638.8KB
Description of Kazukiyo Kurosu's work, pop up art. We got his book and his autograph.
04-10-04 10:27a 429.6KB
Description of Kazukiyo Kurosu's work, pop up art. We got his book and his autograph.
04-10-04 10:27a 483.2KB
Cathedral built by Antonio Gaudi in Barcelona: the Sagrada Familia (according to a visitor to our site, Michel Durinx)
04-10-04 10:27a 654.9KB
Another cathedral.
04-10-04 10:27a 610.9KB
Also according to Michel, this is the Basilique de la Sacre Coeur, in Paris. Because this church is standing on a hill (the Montmartre = martyr's hill), 98% of the pictures you find online are without the tower. Look it up on Google, or try http://www.303rdbg.com/ce-paris1.jpg.
04-10-04 10:28a 564.5KB
Cassandra about to enter the newspaper “pillow”. There's a floor fan to her left that's blowing air into the pillow. It was made from approximately 100 sheets of newsprint and a lot of packing tape. Notice the packing tape going from the corner of the “pillow” to the stantion to Cassandra's left. Without that brace, the fan would blow the “pillow” away.
04-10-04 10:33a 610.7KB
Inside the newspaper “pillow”, lower corner. The yellow line indicated the boundaries of movement of visitors.
04-10-04 10:34a 718.6KB
Inside the newspaper “pillow”, upper corner.
04-10-04 10:34a 740KB
Inside the newspaper “pillow”, lower corner. The yellow line indicated the boundaries of movement of visitors.
04-10-04 10:34a 695KB
The other upper corner.
04-10-04 10:34a 685.3KB
Cassandra leaving the pillow.
04-10-04 10:34a 616.3KB
Giant origami. The paper was about 3 meters (9 feet!) square. The woman in the kimono to the left was showing the girls how to fold using a hand-held model. The woman to her left would step in from time to time to demonstrate.
04-10-04 10:36a 719.2KB
Beginning the first squash fold.
04-10-04 10:37a 697KB
Finishing the first squash fold.
04-10-04 10:37a 739.9KB
Preparing the second squash fold. They didn't notice the wrinkle so we left before they began to permanently crease the wrinkle.
04-10-04 10:38a 809.5KB
Cassandra, forming the ring to the dome. Which side is “up”?
04-10-04 10:50a 520.9KB
Cassandra, ready to add the top to the dome.
04-10-04 10:51a 565KB
Ready for the rest of the cap.
04-10-04 10:55a 535.7KB
Almost finished.
04-10-04 10:55a 535.3KB
The dome, finally completed.
04-10-04 10:56a 565.9KB
Kazukiyo Kurosu and interpreter. Look closely at the house he's working on. Notice that the cutout formed a design of a bird. THAT is the tricky part; two images, one 2-D and one 3-D, mutually complimentary.
04-10-04 10:59a 491KB
Kazukiyo Kurosu and interpreter. Look closely at the house he's working on. Notice that the cutout formed a design of a bird. THAT is the tricky part; two images, one 2-D and one 3-D, mutually complimentary.
04-10-04 11:00a 485.8KB
The giant crane, finished...definitely finished.
04-10-04 11:05a 561.6KB
Cassandra wanted a picture of the Corinthian pillars.
04-10-04 11:09a 500.8KB
Looking down at the demonstration stage. Stage right is the pop-up art; 6 sheets of green tagboard that will become the Statue of Liberty. Stage left are sheets of plastic “cardboard” which become 3-D art when folded. An example is the house to the front of the stage.
04-10-04 11:11a 502.3KB
Looking down at the demonstration stage. Stage right is the pop-up art; 6 sheets of green tagboard that will become the Statue of Liberty. Stage left are sheets of plastic “cardboard” which become 3-D art when folded. An example is the house to the front of the stage.
04-10-04 11:11a 602.6KB
View from the east looking west.
04-10-04 11:12a 681.2KB
View from the east looking west.
04-10-04 11:12a 860.1KB
Explaining what was about to happen.
04-10-04 11:16a 448.5KB
Explaining what was about to happen.
04-10-04 11:19a 441KB
Working on the torch.
04-10-04 11:21a 466.6KB
Answering a question through the interpreter.
04-10-04 11:22a 536.9KB
Starting on Liberty's left side.
04-10-04 11:24a 496.1KB
Working on the left side.
04-10-04 11:25a 492.6KB
Working on the left side.
04-10-04 11:27a 483.9KB
Working on the left side.
04-10-04 11:27a 444KB
No glue was used during the demonstration, or after either.
04-10-04 11:29a 477.5KB
Working on the left side.
04-10-04 11:31a 492.4KB
Once we saw the torch, the mystery was pretty much gone. There was some question regarding how sturdy it would be...
04-10-04 11:31a 475.5KB
A question?
04-10-04 11:32a 499.7KB
Answering another question.
04-10-04 11:34a 448.7KB
One last question. He uses photographs and sometimes toy models for the design. He does not use architectural drawings. Thus, the products may not be true to scale, but the shape is generally accurate.
04-10-04 11:35a 451.2KB
Nearly finished.
04-10-04 11:37a 487.4KB
Done!!
04-10-04 11:37a 485.6KB
The artist posing with his creation.
04-10-04 11:39a 504.7KB
Examples of Takaaki Kihara's “90 degree foldups” of origamic architecture; buildings, skyline, and the Seattle Space Needle.
04-10-04 11:40a 395.5KB
Cassandra giving an idea of the scale of the plastic “cardboard” figures.
04-10-04 11:41a 539KB
Takaaki Kihara, structural engineer/artist demonstrating the technique on what seems like tag board. He marks the fold lines with what appeared to be a blunt needle.
04-10-04 11:42a 579.8KB
And now he cuts through the solid lines.
04-10-04 11:43a 594.9KB
Beginning the folding action to check the cuts are all in place.
04-10-04 11:45a 573.5KB
Testing the folding action...
04-10-04 11:45a 657.3KB
One more crease...
04-10-04 11:45a 638.6KB
Something missing???
04-10-04 11:46a 649.2KB
A few stems and flowers in the urn, and ...
04-10-04 11:46a 633.3KB
The finished pop-up. He signed it and gave it to Cassandra.
04-10-04 11:46a 592.5KB
Kazukiyo Kurosu autographing his book for us. Notice he's drawing a cartoon of himself. A really nice guy.
04-10-04 11:58a 564.5KB
Here he's showing us how to make a fold-out “smiley face”.
04-10-04 12:02p 671.8KB
Making a few subtle folds.
04-10-04 12:03p 626.4KB
Checking out the display of artwork. The figure on the right was made by Kathy Alsegraf and is an example of what we were going to learn to make; unit origami based on Tokomo Fuse's work.
04-10-04 12:07p 519.5KB
“Nimble Fingers” here was whipping through the folding at the workshop for unit origami taught by Kath Ansgelt.
04-10-04 12:35p 464.6KB
Cupboard folding finished, now to put in the tricky folds to make a unit (I forgot to keep photographing...nuts...).
04-10-04 12:35p 370.4KB
Demonstrating how each unit has a “tab” (to the right of her left hand) that would fit into a “pocket” (above the right hand).
04-10-04 12:43p 396.3KB
Opening up the unit to show how to link them.
04-10-04 12:44p 387.6KB
Showing how to find the tabs and pockets.
04-10-04 12:44p 369.5KB
Does everybody see that??
04-10-04 12:45p 394.8KB
The finished products.
04-10-04 1:27p 428.3KB
Closeup of Takaaki Kihara's work. At each demo, he'd take a 1m x 0.5m piece of “plastic cardboard” and cut it to make a face.
04-10-04 1:30p 497.4KB
The back of one of the faces.
04-10-04 1:30p 467.3KB
Cassandra standing by a partially finished sheet. Takaaki would use this sheet in his demonstration.
04-10-04 1:30p 435.9KB
A 90-degree pop-out house.
04-10-04 1:31p 450.6KB
Our worshop leader pointing out the figures she made for the event...the interlocking frames, for example.
04-10-04 1:39p 595.4KB
Takaaki Kihara.
04-10-04 2:08p 394.5KB
Why is his work in this show?
04-10-04 2:09p 399.9KB
Origami is more than just folding paper. It includes using a single sheet of material and nothing else, to form a work of 3-D art.
04-10-04 2:09p 364.5KB
Like this sheet. It seems like an ordinary piece of paper.
04-10-04 2:10p 360.4KB
But with a few cuts ...
04-10-04 2:10p 400.9KB
and folds...
04-10-04 2:10p 393.4KB
It becomes a house!
04-10-04 2:10p 399.3KB
A single sheet of paper.
04-10-04 2:10p 395.8KB
For the people in the back, here's a larger example.
04-10-04 2:11p 382.1KB
The same figure, several times larger and in a different material.
04-10-04 2:11p 396KB
And some figures can be made to stand up when flattened 180 degrees.
04-10-04 2:11p 369.2KB
Opening...
04-10-04 2:11p 376.7KB
Almost there. It turned into a pyramid, but he was folding and flattening so quickly, I didn't get a picture of it completely formed.
04-10-04 2:12p 424.3KB
“Seeing is believing”...so he'll show us how it's done from the start.
04-10-04 2:12p 395.2KB
He's marked the sheet with three types of lines, dotted for valley folds, dashes for mountain folds, and solids for cuts.
04-10-04 2:12p 393.7KB
Get the picture?
04-10-04 2:13p 364.5KB
Cutting halfway through the front for the valley folds.
04-10-04 2:14p 406.6KB
Putting it on the vertical board for cutting al lthe way through.
04-10-04 2:15p 404.7KB
Almost finished cutting.
04-10-04 2:15p 363.9KB
Pushing out the cuts.
04-10-04 2:16p 395.4KB
Working the folds.
04-10-04 2:16p 433KB
Flattening the piece.
04-10-04 2:16p 423.3KB
Done!!
04-10-04 2:16p 416.4KB
Now for a really BIG demonstration.
04-10-04 2:17p 459.8KB
If you look very carefully, you can see some of the cuts he's made in the center which will form a dome when the image is worked out.
04-10-04 2:17p 431.5KB
Checking the cuts.
04-10-04 2:18p 394.8KB
Checking the cuts.
04-10-04 2:19p 409.2KB
Making sure the cuts for the folds are done correctly.
04-10-04 2:20p 437.1KB
Notice the cutting guide in his left hand; a wood-backed, steel-edged ruler.
04-10-04 2:21p 385.8KB
Working the cuts on the dome.
04-10-04 2:21p 378.3KB
Working around a cut for the dome.
04-10-04 2:22p 398.1KB
Slight adjustment was required with a retractable razor knife. He used only one type for the demonstration; a 45 degree blade. For finer work, he recommends (in his book) a 30 degree blade.
04-10-04 2:23p 419.4KB
Nearly there.
04-10-04 2:24p 441.9KB
Oops. A piece wasn't completely cut.
04-10-04 2:24p 442.9KB
He's flexed the piece to check the cuts. He won't test the folds until all the cuts are complete.
04-10-04 2:24p 394.7KB
Now THAT's gutsy! Flipping the sheet without an assistant.
04-10-04 2:25p 421.6KB
He said he normally has an assistant, but wanted to try doing this one by himself.
04-10-04 2:25p 401.1KB
The dome starting to take shape. Notice how the sheet has one main valley fold at the ground/horizon line, and other folds that define the stories of the building.
04-10-04 2:26p 422.3KB
The dome is almost finished.
04-10-04 2:26p 434.5KB
Working the folds.
04-10-04 2:26p 416.6KB
One of the cuts wasn't quite clean enough.
04-10-04 2:26p 434.9KB
Then he flips the sucker on its back!!!
04-10-04 2:26p 449.8KB
And bends it...
04-10-04 2:27p 473.7KB
all the way flat...
04-10-04 2:27p 456.7KB
And brings it back to 90 degrees...
04-10-04 2:27p 444.8KB
And shows it to the folks in the cheap seats.
04-10-04 2:27p 390.3KB
Finished!!
04-10-04 2:28p 452.7KB
From the north side center of the hall looking southward. Each card table had a display explaining how to fold a particular figure, like cups,frogs, boxes. Mostly flat figures, though they did show how to fold the water bomb (but they called it a “balloon”; definitely more politically correct).
04-10-04 2:29p 620.2KB
From the north side center of the hall looking southward.
04-10-04 2:29p 560.7KB
The explanation for the wide stairs with low risers; when General Montgomery Meigs was designing the Pension Building (1882-1887), he considered the people likely to be using it; lame soldiers, elderly widows and orphans. He also include a system to circulate fresh air and a space for elevators.
04-10-04 2:39p 461.7KB
From the northwest corner looking southward. Notice the cranes in midair. They're suspended from the catwalk perhaps 100 feet above the floor. The multi-colored grid on the floor is a town with paper buses, houses, and other buildings. These were colored paper cut-outs and paste-ups. Not something we did because we were there for the folding and new ideas.
04-10-04 2:41p 645.7KB
Another shot from above.
04-10-04 2:41p 624.2KB
Looking down on the inflated newsprint pillow (looks like the cleaners got to one of them) and two giant blue cranes. Not sure what the other blue thing was supposed to be. Looks like the assistant should have been more assertive.
04-10-04 2:42p 770.5KB
Cassandra on the stairs. Brick, low, and wide. The traction was surprisingly good. Very comfortable going up and down...which we did a number of times.
04-10-04 2:46p 416.1KB
Cassandra tries her hand at one of Takaaki's examples. The pink inflated bunny was our idea. The show had tables where you could try folding, but we thought their idea of a folded bunny was rather lame...so we did our own.
04-10-04 2:49p 438.5KB
Glad we didn't plan to visit the Washington Monument. There were crowds EVERYWHERE downtown! And no one appeared to be very patient.
04-10-04 3:22p 427.1KB
Cherry blossoms by the Jefferson Memorial.
04-10-04 3:26p 776.1KB