Origami Tessellations: Awe-Inspiring Geometric Designs: Amazon.co.uk: Eric Gjerde: Books

Review

… It is surprising and challenging to see which variety of ornaments can be generated this way out of one single sheet of paper. The procedures are explained step by step and allow to reproduce these interesting planar ornaments. … The surprising and wonderful results are worth the effort. I really enjoyed this exercise … [the book] can be recommended to whoever is interested in the field of planar ornaments and its connection to origami.
—O. Roschel, International Mathematical News (IMN), December 2010

In this gorgeous book, Eric Gjerde has presented clear, easy-to-follow instructions that introduce the reader to the incredible beauty and diversity of origami tessellations.
—Robert J. Lang, June 2008

Here [Gjerde] demonstrates 25 of his favorite designs that use tessellations, geometric patterns that can repeat forever, to make paper surfaces of intricate pleats and folds. For most learners, he says, there is a moment of epiphany after which it all makes sense and they can never go back. Beginning and experienced origamists are welcome.
—Reference & Research Book News, May 2009

If Eric Gjerde’s new book Origami Tessellations: Awe-Inspiring Geometric Designs needed an alternative title, it might be: Origami: It’s not just for kids any more! Of course origami has never been just for kids, but this book should convince you that you can create some great art using origami techniques. . . . The projects are graded as beginner, intermediate and advanced, but 'beginner' should be interpreted as someone who has previous experience with origami or a strong interest in learning about it, because even the simplest projects include a lot of steps and demand precise folding. But for someone who enjoys doing origami and wants to try some complex projects, the directions are very clear and the photographs of the finished work should serve as an inspiration.
—Sarah Boslaugh, MAA Online, June 2009

Gjerde’s [book] is as much an art book and is a feast for the eyes on every page . . . It is not standard origami, nor indeed standard tessellation. It takes tessellations into three dimensions and then back into two . . . All pieces are from a single piece of paper, prefolded into the grids. You would not think so when, for example, you have a result that looks like woven strips of tape or a triangular weaving reminiscent of M.C. Escher.
—John Sharp, The London Mathematical Society Newsletter , May 2009

Origami tesselations in this book means paper folding by repeating special patterns. Explicit instructions are given how to obtain a large variety of origami tesselations of great beauty and difficulty. The results are interesting geometric figures which - however - are presented from an intuitive point of view. ... Several of these origami tesselations are comparable with patterns on a tile floor or the Islamic artwork at the Alhambra in Spain. The reader is invited and inspired for [his or her] own experiments and ideas, especially for creating [his or her] own patterns in the sense of origami tesselations.
—Gertraud Ehrig, Zentralblatt MATH, September 2009

This richly illustrated and easy-to-read handbook is an excellent resource for origami hobbyists. Images from the text could also be used to support classroom discussions of symmetry, tessellation, and multicultural mathematics. ... This book is a valuable resource for origami enthusiasts and anyone with an interest in tessellation-based art.
—Heidi Burgiel, Mathematics Teacher, October 2009

Review

! It is surprising and challenging to see which variety of ornaments can be generated this way out of one single sheet of paper. The procedures are explained step by step and allow to reproduce these interesting planar ornaments. ! The surprising and wonderful results are worth the effort. I really enjoyed this exercise ! [the book] can be recommended to whoever is interested in the field of planar ornaments and its connection to origami. --O. Roschel, International Mathematical News (IMN), December 2010 In this gorgeous book, Eric Gjerde has presented clear, easy-to-follow instructions that introduce the reader to the incredible beauty and diversity of origami tessellations. --Robert J. Lang, June 2008 Here [Gjerde] demonstrates 25 of his favorite designs that use tessellations, geometric patterns that can repeat forever, to make paper surfaces of intricate pleats and folds. For most learners, he says, there is a moment of epiphany after which it all makes sense and they can never go back. Beginning and experienced origamists are welcome. --Reference & Research Book News, May 2009 If Eric Gjerde's new book Origami Tessellations: Awe-Inspiring Geometric Designs needed an alternative title, it might be: Origami: It's not just for kids any more! Of course origami has never been just for kids, but this book should convince you that you can create some great art using origami techniques... The projects are graded as beginner, intermediate and advanced, but 'beginner' should be interpreted as someone who has previous experience with origami or a strong interest in learning about it, because even the simplest projects include a lot of steps and demand precise folding. But for someone who enjoys doing origami and wants to try some complex projects, the directions are very clear and the photographs of the finished work should serve as an inspiration. --Sarah Boslaugh, MAA Online, June 2009 Gjerde's [book] is as much an art book and is a feast for the eyes on every page ... It is not standard origami, nor indeed standard tessellation. It takes tessellations into three dimensions and then back into two ... All pieces are from a single piece of paper, prefolded into the grids. You would not think so when, for example, you have a result that looks like woven strips of tape or a triangular weaving reminiscent of M.C. Escher. --John Sharp, The London Mathematical Society Newsletter , May 2009 Origami tesselations in this book means paper folding by repeating special patterns. Explicit instructions are given how to obtain a large variety of origami tesselations of great beauty and difficulty. The results are interesting geometric figures which - however - are presented from an intuitive point of view. ... Several of these origami tesselations are comparable with patterns on a tile floor or the Islamic artwork at the Alhambra in Spain. The reader is invited and inspired for [his or her] own experiments and ideas, especially for creating [his or her] own patterns in the sense of origami tesselations. --Gertraud Ehrig, Zentralblatt MATH, September 2009 This richly illustrated and easy-to-read handbook is an excellent resource for origami hobbyists. Images from the text could also be used to support classroom discussions of symmetry, tessellation, and multicultural mathematics. ... This book is a valuable resource for origami enthusiasts and anyone with an interest in tessellation-based art. --Heidi Burgiel, Mathematics Teacher, October 2009

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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

A good origami tessellation book 23 Feb 2009

By Mr. M. Robertson

Format:Paperback

If, like me, you've been wanting to get into origami tessellations but haven't had much idea about how to get started beyond a few tutorials and the odd web site here and there, Eric Gjerde's new book is just the thing to get you started on the road to mastery.

The first chapter outlines the essential skills and techniques required to create origami tessellations. Even although the techniques are well explained and illustrated with stylish diagrams and clear photos, it must be said that the learning curve involved in creating tessellations is fairly steep.

There are quite a few things to be mastered before you can even begin to attempt making a tessellation, so if you're a beginner (even if you're an otherwise very experienced origamist), be warned that you may have to spend a few hours practising before you've picked up the necessary skills. It's time consuming rather than terribly difficult.

The author himself notes that with tessellations being such a `hands on' craft, you will need to work through the basics until you reach an `Aha' moment and everything becomes clear.

And let's not forget the precreasing - most tessellations in the book are made out of precreased grids of squares or triangles, often as many as 32 or 64. I found I could precrease a 32x32 square grid on a 20cm piece of paper without much effort, but doing 64 would be exceptionally difficult, if not impossible. Larger paper, say at least 40cm square, is probably better for most of the included projects. Learning to precrease a triangular grid is significantly more difficult than making a square grid. So be warned this is not a book for those who lack patience. That's not the fault of the author - it's simply that time and patience is required to make tessellations. However, they're so beautiful that it's well worth persevering.

There are 25 projects included in the book, divided into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. They all look good and will certainly inspire you to begin creating your own designs once you've worked through them. Crease patterns and fairly detailed instructions and lots of photos are included for all models. Gjerde is very enthusiastic about his work and that comes across clearly in the text.

All things considered, this is a very good book and as far as I'm aware is the only book dealing with origami tessellations on the market at the moment. The price (�20.99) is quite high for what you get, but considering that it deals with a niche topic in a niche hobby you can't really complain. I'm happy to own this book and if you have an interest in tessellations I'm sure you will be too.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

excellent and fascinating 11 Feb 2010

By R. E. Drake

I can't do better than refer you to the reviews on the back cover of the book.Anyone with a little patience can produce a great result.Buy it.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

Fascinating but with some weak points 13 May 2010

By A. P. J. Jansen

This is an very nice book for people interested in learning about using origami to form two-dimensional tilings. It has a general introduction, followed by a description of the basic techniques, three sections on beginner, intermediate, and advanced projects, and it ends with a gallery of state-of-the-art pieces. It is a joy just to browse through the book, and look at the beautiful photos. The weak point of the book are the instructions. The basic techniques are often a puzzle. For some reason the author has not used the normal origami symbols to indicates how to make the folds. Instead there are three-dimensional figures that are not very clear and the crease patterns are sometimes simply wrong. The instructions for the projects, but instead of giving each steps a number, steps are grouped in a way that makes little sense to me. However, these things should not stop you from buying a good book on a fascinating form of origami.