X-Nico

4 unusual facts about Robert Harbin


History of origami

He invented the process and techniques of wet-folding and set down the initial set of symbols for the standard Yoshizawa-Randlett system that Robert Harbin and Samuel Randlett later improved upon.

His work was promoted through the studies of Gershon Legman as published in the seminal books of Robert Harbin's Paper Magic and more so in Secrets of the Origami Masters which revealed the wide world of paper folding in the mid-1960s.

Wobble board

According to an interview he gave to Tony Barrell for The Sunday Times Magazine in 2001, Rolf discovered the musical properties of hardboard by chance, when he was about to paint a portrait of the conjurer Robert Harbin in 1959.

Yoshizawa–Randlett system

This system caught the attention of Samuel Randlett and Robert Harbin, who added a few symbols such as “rotate” and “zoom in”, and then adopted it as the standard.



see also