Nikhil Patel is 3rd-year studying CAM and CS. He has been doing origami on and off since elementary school, and thanks to UChicagOrigami, he has found a community of fellow origamists in college. His favorite thing about origami is how paradoxically simple yet complex it is; you can make any shape you want, no matter how intricate, yet it always comes from a humble square of paper (or rectangle if you’re not an origami purist).

This exhibit is about small origami. It features a few pieces made out of very small pieces of paper along with pieces featuring a high degree of precision with small folds. Small origami presents a unique technical challenge: how does one fold a piece of paper that is smaller than their smallest fingers? At this scale, even elementary models become challenging. What you do not see here is the many failed attempts; a small error can be fatal for the whole piece, so it took many tries to get some of these models right.

Instagram: @if_you_give_a_nikp4002_a_paper

 

Crane
0.75×0.75in kami
Traditional design

Ninja star
2 strips of 0.75×1.5in Post-it
Traditional design

Flower
1.5×1.5in Post-it
Designer unknown

Hydrangea
1.5×1.5in kami
Shuzo Fujimoto

Waterbomb base tessellation
1.5x6in kami
Designer unknown

Another waterbomb base tessellation
3x3in kami
Eric Gjerde