Quadratic Quandaries Origami Tessellation

Quadratic Quandaries Original Origami Tessellation

 This is a curious origami tessellation that I found. When you look at it as pictured above it looks like a simple pattern of four quadrants each containing the same molecule. Which is true. 

Each molecule contains a diamond shapes comprised of four rhombuses which are flanked by four trapezoids. Simple. Right?

However, when you alter your perspective by turning the tessellation 90 degrees you see something totally different. It becomes a linear pattern. Same exact design, just viewed from a different angle. Geometry is fun that way. 

90 Degree Change Quadratic Quandaries Tessellation

It's mostly a flagstone tessellation, except where the four trapezoids converge. At their center are some overlapping rhombuses. 

Back View Quadratic Quandaries Tess

When you look at the view of the back side you can see all the triangles that I used to connect the shapes on the front. You can also clearly see the duos of rhombuses which create the non flagstone center points. 

It's a neat exercise in rotation and perception. 

Crease pattern included. 


Crease Pattern to fold Quadratic Quandaries Origami

Filed under: July 2026 Origami Tessellations
This has been an original post created by SolvingOrigamiTessellations.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Infinite Triangles Origami Tessellation

Image
This is just a flash idea I had. There was no planning involved. No inspiration. I just started folding and followed the lure of the creases in the paper.  Upon seeing the finished result, It kind of reminds me of Robin Scholz's Triphilia tessellation, but the construction is definitely different and I was not thinking of that as I was crafting it. The similarity is that you can arrange the layering of the triangles into different patterns of your choice.  I went looking and discovered  I had folded this a few years ago and called it Triangle Temptations . I didn't realize this until after I'd completed this model.  Apparently, according to my original post, I'd seen someone else fold it on flickr and recreated it.  This happens sometimes. You hit on an idea and it's something you've done and forgotten. They linger in the back of your brain and come forward unexpectedly.  That previous version differed from this one slightly, in that it used double sized cr...
Read more

Herringbone Tessellation

Image
Messing around with rhombuses yielded this interesting pattern. It utilizes reverse rabbit ear folds to create triangular points which connect the running rows of rhombus twists. The triangles form in the spaces between the rhombuses. Then there are mirror triangles to facilitate the the next row.  It kinda looks and folds like a square grid tessellation even though it's done using a triangle grid.  It's a fairly easy fold.  I do have a crease pattern. Just need to take a pic and upload it. Update: photo of crease pattern added below.
Read more

Natural Rhombus Herringbone Tessellation

Image
This is in keeping with my exploration of non-hexagonal twists repeating. It's just a dizzying array of rhombuses all linked to one another. It employs an up/down repetition pattern. The rhombus shapes are different from traditional rhombus twists as they follow the natural grid lines. This crease pattern is a natural flow of the same single shape ad infinitum. It takes advantage of the natural folds of a triangle grid to create an easy to fold collapse that results in a complex structure of repetitions. It's difficult and a little confusing trying to get all the collapses to flow in the same direction. Especailly at the edges where the shapes get truncated. You could potentially alternate directions as well. Or come up with other patterns. The folds go forward or back at your discretion. I often find it frustrating to see a folded tessellation and no crease pattern to accompany it. Depending on how the photo was taken, the lighting and the clarity, it can so...
Read more