The Origami Forum

I'm currently studying box pleating, a technique that's being used for origami since the 1960s. That's 5 decades ago! I find it very versatile, but would you consider box pleating passe already? Has it been replaced by a new and better technique? if so, what is that?

No, it's as useful as the study of traditional bases - i.e. very useful. There are nowadays more techniques which can be mixed in and combined with BP, but it is not "passé". Other complementary tools include e.g. hexpleating, 22.5 angles to raise/lower the level of boxpleats (have a look at Sipho Mabona's faun CP if you are interested in a good example)...

On my flickr, I think every single one of my own designs is pure boxpleating, no wierd angles or mixed pleating or anything. So to answer your question, no I do not think boxpleating is passe already. Also, Hojyo Takashi has a lot of boxpleated models that are fantastic.

Boxpleating will never die as long as I'm around
But yeah, BP is still very common, I believe. People still use it a lot for complex stuff (human figures, for instance). It is really suited for complex stuff after all: you can easily make many small details with it and customize the base of your model however you want. I think it's also slightly easier to understand and apply than that... «non-using BP» technique.

Oh hell no!

Have you seen the VOG guys, they do magic with those 45 and 90 degree angels!
Petr Stychlý works almost exclusivly with bp, and his stuff is awesome.

gachepapier wrote:No, it's as useful as the study of traditional bases - i.e. very useful. There are nowadays more techniques which can be mixed in and combined with BP, but it is not "passé". Other complementary tools include e.g. hexpleating, 22.5 angles to raise/lower the level of boxpleats (have a look at Sipho Mabona's faun CP if you are interested in a good example)...

Right on man, you summarised it perfectly

Passé??? Have you ever heard of the great master http://www11.ocn.ne.jp/~origami/ Hojyo Takashi? Most of his work is box pleated and as current as anything.

Box pleating will never be passe because it will always be integrated into models even if those models aren't exclusively box-pleating. Furthermore, I found that box-pleating is probably the easiest method to begin designing models with, and I use it for most of my models.

Boxpleating is not passé but it is frowned upon by some as it is less efficient than other techniques.
Advantages of box pleating:
It is easy to design with and modify
Bases have easy landmarks
Crease patterns are easy to understand

Disadvantages of box pleating:
It is inefficient
Bases can be thick and clumsy
Bases are blocky and need one hell of a lot if shaping to make them look okay

Out of curiosity, how exactly are you defining "inefficient"?

dinogami wrote:Out of curiosity, how exactly are you defining "inefficient"?

According to Lang in ODS, the lenght of a flap from a tree figure made base is 10 % longer than a box pleated one.

So long as you can produce a model that effectively captures the spirit of the subject, then it doesn't matter what design technique you used, be it circle packing, square packing or hex pleating, etc.

And if I may add, even if square packing is passé you are not wasting your time by studying it. I would think that it would prove to be a good primer to prepare you for whatever newer technique comes out (e.g. hex pleating?).

Most of my favorite models are box-pleating models, and I think its not like to be surpassed in awhile. It's strength as a design technique and relative ease insure it's continued use.