Carmen Sprung must be one of the few origami artists who uses paper in ratios involving square root(√) values! One of the previous Carmen Sprung's designs that I had worked on was the √3 Schachtel, which used paper in the ratio of x:√3x.

The Mennorode Star uses paper in the same ratio ie., x:√3x. In the diagram, she has also explained how to get this size, from a square sheet of paper. The design is a modular star, made from 12 units.

At least 2 colours are required to bring out the pattern in the completed star, and to avoid confusion while assembling it. It is suggested that multiple colours be used when assembling the star for the first time. This is helpful in order to clearly see how the arms fit together.

Though the star is pretty easy to assemble, the instructions are not that simple. And it isn't in English either, so I put google's translate services to good use :) OrigamiNut has posted a video on Youtube with a tutorial for folding and assembling the units. Unfortunately, I discovered this after I had completed the star. The tutorial should make the job fairly easy I think.

Model Details:

Model: Mennorode Star 

Creator: Carmen Sprung

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: x:√3x

Paper Size: 2.9 inches by 5 inches

No of Modules: 12

Instructions: Origamiseiten

Tutorial: Youtube

I like most of the origami designed by Carmen Sprung and here is another of her designs. This one is called √3 Schachtel (Google gives the translation as box or case). √3 because of the paper ratio which is x:√3x. I think this must be the only time that I use such a ratio!!

In case you are wondering what the value of √3 is, it approximates to 1.732. So if one side of the paper is 3 inches, then the other side would approximately come to 3 * 1.732 = 5.2 inches. If you wish to have one side as 6 inches, then the paper size would be 6 inches by 10.4 inches. For more approximations, check out the instructions where Carmen Sprung has already provided some of the values.

As for the folding, it is not very complicated. The last step might require some effort if you are a beginner origamist. I rather like the shape of the box and the fact that it is folded from a √3 paper ratio adds uniqueness to the piece.

Model Details:

Model: √3 Schachtel

Creator: Carmen Sprung

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: x:√3x

Paper Size: 6 inches by 10.4 inches and 3 inches by 5.2 inches

Instructions: Origamiseiten