Editing Modular origami (section)

==History==
[[Image:Origami ball.jpg|thumb|right|A ''[[kusudama]]'', the traditional Japanese precursor to modular origami]]

The first historical evidence for a modular origami design comes from a Japanese book by Hayato Ohoka published in 1734 called ''Ranma Zushiki''. It contains a print that shows a group of traditional origami models, one of which is a modular cube.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=illustrated book; print {{!}} British Museum |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1979-0305-0-75-3 |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=www.britishmuseum.org |language=en}}</ref> The cube is pictured twice (from slightly different angles) and is identified in the accompanying text as a ''[[Tamatebako (origami)|tamatebako]]'' (magic treasure chest).  

Isao Honda's ''World of Origami'' (published in 1965) appears to have the same model, where it is called a "cubical box". The six modules required for this design were developed from the traditional Japanese paperfold commonly known as the ''menko''. Each module forms one face of the finished cube.  

There are several other traditional Japanese modular designs, including balls of folded paper flowers known as ''[[kusudama]]'', or medicine balls. These designs are not integrated and are commonly strung together with thread. The term ''kusudama'' is sometimes inaccurately used to describe any three-dimensional modular origami structure resembling a ball.

There are also a few modular designs in the [[Chinese paperfolding]] tradition, notably the pagoda (from Maying Soong) and the lotus made from [[Joss paper]].

Most traditional designs are however single-piece and the possibilities inherent in the modular origami idea were not explored further until the 1960s when the technique was re-invented by [[Robert Neale (paperfolder)|Robert Neale]] in the US and later by [[Mitsunobu Sonobe]] in Japan. The 1970s saw a sudden period of interest and development in modular origami as its own distinct field, leading to its present status in origami folding. One notable figure is Steve Krimball, who discovered the potential in [[Sonobe| Sonobe's cube unit]] and demonstrated that it could be used to make alternative polyhedral shapes, including a 30-piece ball.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishorigami.info/academic/lister/sonobe.php |title=David Lister on Origins of the Sonobe Module |website=www.britishorigami.info |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090605230847/http://www.britishorigami.info/academic/lister/sonobe.php |archive-date=2009-06-05}} </ref>

Since then, the modular origami technique has been popularized and developed extensively, and now there have been thousands of designs developed in this repertoire.

Notable modular origami artists include [[Robert Neale (paperfolder)|Robert Neale]], Mitsunobu Sonobe, [[Tomoko Fuse]], [[Kunihiko Kasahara]], [[Tom Hull (mathematician)|Tom Hull]], [[Heinz Strobl]], [[Rona Gurkewitz]], Meenakshi Mukerji,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Origamee: Origami by Meenakshi |url=http://www.origamee.net/index.php |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=www.origamee.net}}</ref> and Ekaterina Lukasheva.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kusudama Me! - site about modular origami |url=https://kusudama.me/ |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=kusudama.me}}</ref>