Collapsing Tessellations

[Sunburst]

I couldn't find a similar topic on this, so here goes:

I have to fold a tessellation for a «certain» challenge going on somewhere around here. Thing is, I've never folded tessellations before. I understand the main concepts of tessellations, but I have a hard time collapsing the whole thing and really need some tips. What ways do you guys use to achieve this? Start from the center? the sides? start randomly forming the shapes and eventually flatten the whole thing? stare at it until it folds itself?
Oh yeah, I'm talking about hexagonal tessellations.

[oz]

I find that it's easier to start from the center. You absolutely have to know where the center is though, because it really sucks when you have been collapsing the tessellation for thirty minutes only to find out that you're offset by one unit.

I think you're right though, starting the tessellation is the hardest part. Once you have the initial shape though, the rest flows smoothly. If you're really having trouble or simply want to know more, I'd recommend Eric Gjerde's "Origami Tessellations", which is a fantastic book that walks you from the bare-boned basics to being able to create your own tessellations on the fly.

Good luck, have fun!

[origamidude96]

I agree with Oz. I find it good to start a model in the exact center, and then continue making the iterations outwards. You have to undo pleats as you go to form more intersections, which can sometimes get confusing, but this is the most effective way to form tessellations for me.

[Brimstone]

Besides what has been said, there is this thing about the pleats. You need to extend them towards the edge of the paper and when two of them overlap, you need to rearrange the paper and continue one more (or sometimes several) iteration of the folding process. Then unfold whatever paper is trapped and do the part of the tessellation that "lies" in that area

[Sunburst]

I started again from the center of the tessellation, extending the pleats to the edge. It works great at the start, but as you progress to the sides you get more and more pleats and it gets harder to organize them. I got a lot further this way and should be done soon at the very least.
Thanks for the replies. I guess I was mostly puzzled by the fact that there aren't any guides on doing this.

[Froy]

Im not a tessellations foldin guy but recently I have been working on Fujimoto's clover fold and I can tell you that it is much easier if you try to find a folding sequence.

Lets say if you can fold pleats and the start to release trapped paper instead of just try to asemble all the pattern at the same time you will give it order and a sequence making the process much more trackable.

And yes start by the center.