Curved-Crease Sculpture
23 comments
·June 19, 2025hokumguru
Eric Demaine is one of the better intersections of origami and mathematics, you should also read up on Dr Robert Lang, the OG and perhaps the most famous American JPL-physicist-turned-origamist: https://langorigami.com/
On the flip side the late Eric Joisel created perhaps the most amazing curved-crease and natural folding that we’ll ever see, his works were truly amazing art: https://ericjoisel.fr/en/home/
jmspring
Looking at Lang's site, yes it is a super niche area, but there is a lot of self promotion - books, events, etc. I was first introduced to the general area of curved crease, etc was with David Huffman in the early 90s. He started that work in the early 70s. So, Lang proclaims to the the first, but salesmanship is important.
Eric himself reconstructs some of huffman's work - https://erikdemaine.org/papers/Huffman_Origami5/paper.pdf
It's an interesting area.
srean
Curved creases aside, the fact that folding a piece of paper gives you a straight line is itself quite amazing and deep.
Even if I couldn't trust a cheap ruler, a straight edge is a piece of paper away.
ndileas
One of the underappreciated causes and effects of the industrial revolution is the precision that's around us all the time. To make that piece of paper required thousands of precision surfaces, rollers, etc.
frakt0x90
In addition to being great artists, I also learned dynamic programming from this guy via his outstanding lectures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp4_UXaVyx8&list=PLJl4xQazDg...
It looks like there's a more recent series as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4-cftqTcdI
FuriouslyAdrift
Le Klint makes hand folded curved lamp shades that are prtty neat. They have workshops to teach people how to do it, too.
https://www.leklint.com/collections/pendants/products/le-kli...
Centigonal
What's great is that, if you accidentally sit on that lampshade or damaging it while moving houses, it has a second life as an IKEA KRUSNING!
https://www.ikea.com/ma/en/p/krusning-pendant-lamp-shade-whi...
colechristensen
Any info about the workshops? Or instructions on similar techniques?
FuriouslyAdrift
It's going on right now (in Copenhagen)
https://www.leklint.com/blogs/stories/3daysofdesign-2025
An old promo showing some of the techniques they use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3T_il3Qphc
colechristensen
Ah sadly on the wrong continent
dendrite9
You might be interested in Madonna Yoder's tessellation instructions: https://training.gatheringfolds.com/garden
I bought Folding Techniques for Designers: From Sheet to Form by Paul Jackson on a whim several years ago and found it fun to work through. I think he has a new edition and some other books but I don't have any experience with them.
FuriouslyAdrift
There's also this: https://www.normann-copenhagen.com/en/Product/Product-Collec...
Which comes as a kit you put together (keep som clear packing tape handy... it can crack if folded to hard... lol)
boulos
For folks interested in folding and origami, the documentary Between the Folds was excellent. I don't know if anyone recorded a Q&A when it did the film festival circuit, but if you could find one, it'd be worth watching.
esafak
This duo must have the most fun job in all academia.
TheCoreh
These remind me of the Elliptic Curve pieces from another post on the HN front page right now (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44315321) I wonder if the poster was inspired by that one to also post these here?
Anyway, these are pretty cool/unique looking! I hadn't seen curved origami like this before.
wonger_
Actually I was just pruning old bookmarks, and thought people would find this origami interesting. I hadn't seen the elliptic curves post -- thanks!
talkingtab
The force from curved folds can be used in other ways. If you score a sheet of copper in a curved line, then fold it along the score you get a twisted form. If you have some poster board handy you can use the same technique as well. Vessels!
kazinator
> There is a surprisingly old history to curved-crease sculpture, going back to the 1920s at the Bauhaus.
That's surprisingly recent.
boxboxbox4
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boxboxbox4
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https://erikdemaine.org/curved/history/