I went to Boston, MA two weeks ago to visit some friends and on my way to the bus station back to New York, I stopped by the MIT Museum to check out what inventive exhibits and ideas were on display. After being awe-struck by Arthur Ganson’s Gestural Engineering exhibit, I wandered to the Toy Product Design section and saw Sho Mi Origami. It is a toy that projects origami instructions onto origami paper. You begin by selecting a project disk, and the disk rotates inside the toy, which advances to the next instruction stop. What a great way to recreate a new toy(Sho Mi Origami) with an classic “toy”(Origami)!
Toy Product Design
Toy Project Design is an MIT class created in 2005 by Barry Kudrowitz and Professor David Wallace. It is a hands-on, project-based introduction to product design processes and techniques with an emphasis on designing for play and entertainment.
Here we have an origami spoon by designer Michael Sholk which is bent from one piece of material comprised of paper, plastic, and silver foil.
And lastly, check out out how origami lends some inspiration to Italian architects in creating this Automobile Museum in Nanjing, China.
p.s. Between the Folds Film is now on DVD. With the purchase of 4 or more DVDs, you’ll receive an original origami butterfly, handfolded by one of the film’s featured artists, Michael LaFosse.
I saw a video of Robert J. Lang talking about how origami is becoming more useful in modern day life. He had worked with some astronauts to come up with a telescope lens that could fold up for transport. Origami is just becoming a bigger part of our world.