In Japanese culture the concept of katachi has special significance, connoting relationships and connectedness. Although katachi cannot be translated precisely, it corresponds most closely to "form," "shape," "pattern," or "Gestalt." The contemporary study of katachi is interdisciplinary and encompasses virtually all scientific and aesthetic endeavors. Katachi research seeks to bridge the gap between cultures - whether the "two cultures" of C.P. Snow or the contrasting cultures of East and West. To help achieve this aim and to foster international cooperation, the interdisciplinary symposium titled "Katachi "U" Symmetry" was convened in Tsukuba, Japan, November 21 - 25, 1994. With many participants from differing backgrounds and cultural perspectives, the symposium was the culmination of 15 years of work in the field. Like-minded researchers and philosophers came together from two movements in interdisciplinary studies of katachi and symmetry that arose in the 1980s, one in Japan, the other in Hungary. The proceedings of the symposium will stimulate and provoke the interest of scientists and mathematicians, engineers and architects, philosophers and semioticians - indeed, all those with a lively sense of curiosity and a wide-ranging intellect.

Covering a wide range of structural concepts and presenting both relevant theories and their applications to actual structures, this book brings together for the first time lightweight structures concepts for many different applications and the relevant scientific literature, thus providing unique insights into a fascinating field of human endeavour. Evolved from a series of graduate courses taught by the authors at the University of Tokyo, the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology, this textbook provides both theoretical and practical insights and presents a range of examples which also provide a history of key lightweight structures since the Apollo age. This essential guide will inspire the imagination of engineers and provide an analytical foundation for all readers.

A unique collection of papers illustrating the connections between origami and a wide range of fields. The papers compiled in this two-part set were presented at the 6th International Meeting on Origami in Science, Mathematics and Education (10-13 August 2014, Tokyo, Japan). They display the creative melding of origami (or, more broadly, folding) with fields ranging from cell biology to space exploration, from education to kinematics, from abstract mathematical laws to the artistic and aesthetics of sculptural design. This two-part book contains papers accessible to a wide audience, including those interested in art, design, history, and education and researchers interested in the connections between origami and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This Part 1 contains papers on various aspects of mathematics of origami: coloring, constructability, rigid foldability, and design algorithms.