Robert J. Lang, Master Origami Patterns Creator
Does this look like an origami patterns creator to you? Well, he is and a charming fellow to boot. I don't know why I expected an outsize brain or the ability to float just above the ground instead of walking like the rest of us. Huh!
Now a retired physicist and
full-time origamist, Robert J. Lang was born in Ohio in 1961 and grew
up in Atlanta, Georgia where a teacher taught him origami at age six to
keep him settled down in school. His amazing brain that later
invented over 40 patents needed something more challenging to do even
then.
Who knew what
fabulous bugs he would one day create? He's noted for detailed,
realistic and complex designs using math, artistic lines and origami
patterns that are challenging to fold. You can see everything he's up to at his web site, www.langorigami.com He creates about 20 new
compositions a year like this one.
His Eupatorus gracilcornis created for the OrigamiUSA 2004 bug war competition. He and the other masters all chose to try making this bug because no one had been able to do it before.
Speaking of competition, here's Lang folding an American flag for Time Magazine's "green flags" competition. Here's a video about it! Can you guess how long it took him to fold those fifty stars and thirteen stripes?
See Robert at home, in his workshop and giving an origami live
demonstration with a carpet-size piece of paper on this video.
Here's a slide show
and talk showing Lang and his bugs, giant origami, piano player and
more.
If you have a scientific or mathematical bent, you may love this wonderful write-up and short video clip of Lang with a link to his free origami software designer TreeMaker. It's great for test-designing your own knock-out origami creations.
Seen here in his hands is a 15" koi, opus 425, one of his favorite origami patterns because of all the scales that took forever to fold. He created it in 2002 and you can find the design in his book Origami Design Secrets.
Lang considers this book his magnum opus. It's a collection of instructions for 25 figures ranging from simple to super-complex. Better yet it also teaches the underlying concept of origami and how you can create your own origami patterns.
What a sweet idea! Click the book title if you want it.
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