4.第四章 传统基底
The design of an origami model maybe broken down into two parts, folding the base, and folding the details. Abase is a regular geometric shape that has a structure similar to that of thesubject, although it may appear to bear very little resemblance to the subject.The detail folds, on the other hand, are those folds that transform theappearance of the base into the final model. The design of a base must takeinto account the entire sheet of paper. All the parts of a base are linkedtogether and cannot be altered without affecting the rest of the paper. Detailfolds, on the other hand, usually affect only a small part of the paper. Theseare the folds that turn a flap into a leg, a wing, or a head. Converting a baseinto an animal using detail folds requires tactical thinking. Developing thebase to begin with requires strategy.
折纸设计可以分成两个部分:折叠基底和整形。基底是一个与主题结构相似的规则几何形状,虽然它看起来与主题一点都不像。与之相对,整形是通过折叠将基底的形状改变成最终的效果。基底的设计必须考虑整个纸张如何利用。基底的每一部分都连在一起而且无法变更无法影响其余的纸张。与之相对,整形通常只涉及纸张的一小部分。例如将一个纸翼折成一条腿、一个翅膀或者是头。通过整形将基底转化为一个动物需要的是战术上的考虑,研发基底则是战略上的。
The traditional Japanese designswere, by and large, derived from a small number of bases that could be used tomake different types of birds, flowers, and various other figures. For much ofthe 20th century, most new origami designs were also derived from these samebasic shapes.
很大程度上,传统的日本折纸设计均来自于一小部分的基底,通过这些基底制作出不同类型的鸟、花和各式各样的其它作品。二十世纪的大部分时间,更多的新的折纸基底也都来自于这些同样的简单的形状。
Bases have been both a blessing anda curse to inventive folding: a blessing because the different bases can eachserve as a ready-made starting point for design, a curse because by luring thebudding designer onto the safe, well-trodden path of using an existing base, heor she starts to feel that there’s nothing new to do and never explores thewilds of base free origami design.
基底对于折纸创新来说既是福音又是诅咒。称其为福音是因为可以信手拈来不同的基底来做为现成的设计起点;称其为诅咒是因为它会诱惑新手们利用已存基底走上一条安全却又陈腐的设计之路,按照这种方式开始,他或她无法体会到新鲜的事物,同时永远不会探索到脱离基底之外的折纸设计的世界。
We will, by the end of this book,do both. However, we will start with the traditional bases—first, to understandwhat our origami designer forebears had to work with, and second, because thetraditional bases, despite being picked over by scores of origami designers fordecades, still have some surprising life in them. While they may seem likeunique constructions, the traditional origami bases are actually specificembodiments of quite broad and general design principles. By thoroughlyunderstanding the traditional bases, we are prepared to understand the deeperprinciples of origami design.
直至本书结束,我们都在两者兼顾。然而现在还是要从基底开始——首先,为了理解折纸设计先驱们是如何应用的;其次,因为传统基底经过数十年被大量的折纸设计者们去芜取精依旧保持着惊人的生命力。虽然传统基底看起来结构独特,但实际上它们相当于宽泛意义的设计原理的典型代表。随着对传统基底的深入理解,才能够为理解深层次的折纸设计原理做好准备。
4.1. The Classic Bases
4.1. 经典基底
So what, exactly, are the standardbases of the origami repertoire? Now, it must be admitted that any labelingscheme that dubs certain structures “the standard bases” is going to besomewhat arbitrary. But there are four shapes known for hundreds of years inJapan that are the basis of several traditional models. These shapes have aparticularly elegant relationship with one another that takes on a specialsignificance in origami design. They are often called the four Classic Bases oforigami and are named for the most famous models that can be folded from them:the Kite, Fish, Bird, and Frog Base.
那么准确来讲,折纸保留节目中的标准基底究竟有哪些呢?现在将某些结构冠以“标准基底”之名还是有点武断。但有四个形状在日本已经流传了数百年,它们是其余传统模型的基础。这些独特、优雅、彼此关联的形状在折纸设计中有着特殊的意义。它们通常被称为经典四基底,同时根据它们能够折出的最著名的模型分别命名为:风筝基底、鱼型基底、鹤型基底和蛙型基底。
Perhaps not surprisingly, in manycases, more of the structure of an origami model is evident in the creasepattern than in the folded base. For one thing, in the crease pattern, allparts of the paper are visible, while in the folded model only the outermostlayers are visible—perhaps 90% or more of them are hidden. Furthermore, certainstructures appear over and over in a crease pattern, which you can recognize asfeatures of the finished model. (Do a lot of creases come together at a singlepoint? That point probably becomes the tip of a flap of the model.) Withpractice, you can learn to read the structure of a model in the crease patternas if it were the entire folding sequence. The crease patterns, bases, and arepresentative model from each of the four Classic Bases are shown in Figure4.1.
毫无意外,很多情况下,折纸模型的折痕展开图里结构细节要比折好的基底多许多。一来,在折痕展开图里纸张的每一部分都是可视的,而折好的模型只有最外层能够看到,大约百分之九十或更多的纸张被隐藏起来。此外,某一结构在折痕展开图里反复出现,这使你能够识别出成品的特征。(有没有许多折痕最终汇聚到一个点上?这个点在模型中可能会变成一个纸翼德尖角。)随着不断练习,您能够学会读懂折痕展开图里面的模型结构,就如同全部按顺序折好了一样。在图4.1里面展示了经典四基底的折痕展开图、基底与代表性的模型。
We have already encountered threeof these in the Elephant’s Head series—the Kite, Fish, and Bird Bases.(Challenge: Can you design an elephant that makes full use of the flaps of aFrog Base?) There is no precise definition of a base; perhaps a good workingdefinition is “a geometric form with the same general shape and/or number offlaps as the desired subject.”
在大象头系列里我们遇到了其中的三个基底:风筝基底、鱼型基底与鹤型基底。(挑战:您能够充分利用蛙型基底的纸翼设计出一个大象么?)基底还没有一个严格的定义,假定一个不错的可行的定义是这样的:“一个由与目标主题相类似的常规形状和/或若干纸翼组成的几何形式。”
In origami, a flap is a region ofpaper that can be manipulated relatively independently of other parts of themodel. In origami design, bases supply flaps; major flaps on a base then getturned into major appendages of a final model. The Kite, Fish, Bird, and FrogBases have, respectively, one, two, four, and five large flaps and one, two,one, and four smaller flaps. To fold an animal, you usually need to start witha base that has the same number of flaps as the animal has appendages. A simplefish has two large flaps (head and tail) and two small ones (pectoral fins),which is why the Fish Base is so appropriate and so named. The averageland-dwelling vertebrate has five major appendages (four legs and a head),which suggests the use of the Frog Base, but only if there is no long tail. TheFrog Base does have five flaps, but the flap on the Frog Base that is in aposition to form a head is thick and difficult to work with. One of the fourflaps of a Bird Base would be easier. But to use a Bird Base to fold afour-legged animal, you would have to represent two of the legs (usually therear legs) with a single flap. In the 1950s and 1960s, there were a lot ofthree-legged origami animals hobbling around.
在折纸中,纸翼表示能够脱离模型的其它部分独立操作的一定范围的纸张。在折纸设计中,基底提供纸翼,基底中主要的纸翼会转化成最终模型的主要附件。风筝基底、鱼型基底、鹤型基底和蛙型基底各自有一个、两个、四个和五个大的纸翼与一个、两个、一个、两个和四个小的纸翼。要折个动物,你需要有一个纸翼数目与动物拥有的器官数目相匹配的基底。折一个简单的鱼要有两个大的纸翼(头和尾)和两个小点的纸翼(胸鳍)。看!以此而命名鱼形基底完全符合条件。一般的陆地生脊椎动物有五个主要的器官(四条腿和一个头),用蛙型基底试试,这样的话还少个长尾巴。不错,蛙型基底是有五个纸翼,可是能够做出头部的纸翼太臃肿了很难有什么变化。在鹤型基底里的四个大纸翼随便找个也会容易很多。但用鹤型基底折四足动物,你不得不使用一个纸翼来代表两条腿(通常是后腿)。在二十世纪五、六十年代,就有许多三足的折纸动物蹒跚而行。
Figure 4.1.
Crease pattern, base, and a representativemodel for (top to bottom): Kite Base; Fish Base; Bird Base; Frog Base.
图 4.1.
风筝基底、鱼型基底、鹤型基底和蛙型基底(自上而下)的折痕展开图、基底和代表作品。
4.2. Other Standard Bases
The Classic Bases are not the onlybases in regular use. There are a few other candidates for standard bases: theso-called Preliminary Fold (a precursor to the Bird and Frog Bases), theWaterbomb Base (obtainable from the Preliminary Fold by turning it inside-out),the Cupboard Base (consisting of only two folds), and the Windmill Base (alsoknown as the Double-Boat Base in Japan).
4.2.其它标准基底
Figure 4.2.
Top to bottom: the Cupboard Base,Windmill Base, Water-bomb Base, and Preliminary Fold.
图 4.2.
自上而下:橱柜基底、风车基底、水雷基底和序折。
The Preliminary Fold was named Foldrather than Base by Harbin since it was a precursor to other bases, a somewhatartificial distinction that has stubbornly persisted in the English-speakingorigami world.
作为其它基底的前奏,哈宾将“序折”命名为折而不是基底。由于有点人为的因素,序折在英语折纸世界里一直这样独特的使用着。
Up through the 1970s, origamidesigners combined these bases with other procedures, known variously asblintzing, stretching, offsetting, and so forth—and we will learn some of theseas well—resulting in a proliferation of named bases. It was not unheard-of tofind, for example, a “double stretched Bird Base (type II)” as the startingform for a model. (Rhoads’s Bat, Secrets of Origami). Of all the possiblevariants, two are sufficiently noteworthy as to deserve attention: thestretched Bird Base and the blintzed Bird Base are fairly versatile treat-mentsof the classic Bird Base that have seen heavy use in modern times. Both areshown in Figure 4.3.