A Crease in Space
A 6 day origami workshop at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
Folding and unfolding as a concept is omnipresent: DNA being folded at a microscopic level to universe unfolding / expanding. Origami is all about manipulating material using only creases and folds. Traditionally origami used only paper as a medium. Breathing life into inanimate paper without any cutting or sticking. Origami is not only a traditional craft but can be considered a scientific handicraft. Its techniques have applications in a wide range of fields including, Fashion, Space Technology, Architecture, Advertising, Mathematics, Science, Medicine, Therapy, Automobile design and much more.
Origami is intrinsically linked to space.
The constraints of the space available in the medium significantly challenges one’s utilization of it. Origami techniques help enhancing one’s spatial reasoning and understanding of compression and expansion of surfaces and structures.
The Graphic Design students at NID had a hands on folding experience. They were introduced to Tessellation in origami which is done with a single sheet of paper to imitate a tessellated geometric pattern, modular origami which involves folding multiple numbers of one (or more than one) unit and assembling them together without any glue or adhesive that come together to create extremely complicated geometric structures and various other origami techniques. The students conceptualized and prototyped packaging or structures to visualize concepts such as utilization of space around and within, compression, expansion, structure and form. Below are some impressions of their projects.
Entangled
Visualises how any surface is made up of independent particles and though there are spaces between each particle, due to intermolecular forces they behave as one unit.
Space Friendly Hexagonal Packaging
Alternate packaging idea for bulbs where the hexagonal packaging also improves space utilisation in storage.
Unfolding Short Stories
A series of hand drawn educational short stories that unfold as it is read.
The Johari Window
Visualizing personalities with creases and folds.
In Spaces
A visualization of spaces between the ID, Ego and Super Ego
About Shivaram Ananthanarayanan
Shivaram began his tryst with the fascinating art of origami at the tender age of 5 years. His first solo exhibition was at the age of nine years involving 300 complex pieces. He was the first child to hold a solo exhibition in the over 100-year history of the Govt Museum, Chennai.At the age of 11, he was awarded the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement in the field of Origami, instituted by the Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India,He was the only participant from India to attend three International Origami Conventions held at Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, USA.
Shivaram opted for the home schooling system in order to pursue his efforts and passion in the complex art of Origami. He has thus been able to travel across the country and abroad and spread the joy of Origami to wider audiences. Shivaram has been consistently committed to bringing the joy of origami and has been sharing his expertise with various categories of underprivileged and special children. He published his first book of original designs titled — “FOLD IN FOLD OUT — Origami Originals” at the age of 16 which was launched in major bookstores in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Goa. In 2015 he published his second book — In The Fold — Heritage structures of India, that explored indian heritage structures using origamic architecture. He is currently based in Goa, India and is exploring the different aspects of paper engineering.
