This is a stellated octahedron made from 12 Sonobe units. The Sonobe unit is probably the most well known of all modular origami units. It is easy to fold (instructions can be found all over the internet) and you can make an endless array of different shapes using different numbers of units. The unit itself is a parallelogram shape with 45 and 135 degree angles.
In researching the history of the Sonobe unit, I came across a wonderful collection of essays by David Lister of the British Origami Society. Mr. Lister writes about the history and culture of paperfolding and has a very nice article about the Sonobe unit at:
http://www.britishorigami.info/academic/lister/sonobe.php
According to Mr. Lister, there is some unclarity about whether Mitsunobu Sonobe really invented the unit that now bears his name, but, he writes, if he did, "...Sonobe made one of the very greatest contributions to modern origami. It is most unfortunate his achievement should be so poorly documented. I will continue to look out for more information."
Just for the record, Mr. Lister's website notes that he is not the vindaloo-loving character from Red Dwarf, which is, incidentally, in my opinion, only second to Blackadder in the great pantheon of classic British TV comedies.
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