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by Sarah Natkins
Nebuta House
 While our primary focus is innovative materials, we’ve got a soft spot for commonplace materials used in an innovative way. A good re-think can be just as scintillating as a groundbreaking technology transfer. As of late, paper, that ultra thin material on which we write, with which we clean, and within which we package products waiting to be purchased, has become a material of choice for those trying to design more sustainably (check out “ Pulp Fiction” in MATTER 6.2).
One of the first to lead the charge into paper furniture and lighting was Vancouver-based design studio Molo. Having made a name for themselves with their flatpack softwall and softblock space dividers, collapsible furniture and lighting, and, most recently paper walls embedded with LEDs, the design studio is venturing beyond the small scale into architecture with the Nebuta House, a cultural center dedicated to the Japanese tradition of paper floats. Named for the Nebuta festivals that happen across Japan for one week during August, the Nebuta House will allow visitors to the town of Aomori, which draws millions of visitors to its renowned Nebuta festival, the ability to experience the fantastical creatures made “from paper, light and myth” throughout the year.
If Molo could use paper to create the Nebuta House, they probably would. But, alas, sturdier materials are required. 820 uniquely shaped, 40 foot-tall, ribbons of steel will be twisted to screen the entirety of the building, creating a shifting pattern of light and shadow that alternately illuminates and shades the steel and glass spaces within, depending on the hour of the day. Although the curtain wall’s inspiration stems from the vertical patterns cast by the primeval Beech wood forest that encircles Aomori, it bears a striking resemblance to the washi paper folds of Molo’s furniture, except where the folds achieve strength in the most delicate of materials, the twisting of steel makes this most strong of materials appear fragile and at the whim of the winds.
Photo: Nebuta Rendering, Courtesy Molo
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