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    Pleat folding: “Hyperbolic paraboloid”,
      circular pleat, self-folding origami,
      plastic deformation and elastic memory;
      triangulation, interval arithmetic; how paper folds between
      creases, ruled surfaces, torsal, straight creases stay straight,
      polygons stay flat; nonexistence.
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  This lecture is primarily about pleat folding, specifically
  the so-called “hyperbolic paraboloid” model common in origami
  and originating at the Bauhaus in the late 1920s.  Surprisingly,
  this origami model does not exist: it's impossible to fold anything
  nonflat with a crease pattern consisting of concentric squares and
  diagonals.  We'll prove this, using a new theory for how paper folds
  in between creases, in particular showing that straight creases stay
  straight when folded, and interior polygons stay flat when folded.
  By contrast, we'll show how the “hyperbolic paraboloid” folds fine
  after adding specific diagonal creases to the trapezoidal faces.
   Afterward, we'll briefly look at a couple of related topics: how to maximally inflate a teabag or other polyhedral surface by folding, and what kind of foldings are possible with curved creases. On the latter topic, I'll overview a big ongoing project in which we're trying to reconstruct the mathematics underlying a beautiful series of sculptures folded by David Huffman from the 1970s–1990s.  | 
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   Handwritten notes, page 1/9 •
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 Handwritten notes, page 1/9 • [previous page] • [next page] • [PDF]  | 
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   Slides, page 1/38 •
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 Figure by the authors. See http://erikdemaine.org/hypar/ Slides, page 1/38 • [previous page] • [next page] • [PDF]  | 
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