These inflatables are made of a material called “Smash,” which consists of specialized long fibers of non-woven polyester that can be manipulated into different forms using hot press forming technology. The Japanese design studio nendo created lighting fixtures resembling Japanese chochin paper lanterns using this fabric. nendo intended to demonstrate the possibilities of what new materials developed by Japanese synthetic fiber technology could bring, so at the Tokyo Fibre ‘09 Senseware exhibition nendo treated the “Smash” fabric like blown glass by blowing and shaping it into a seamless one-piece lantern. Due to the lack of precise control in this process, no one lighting fixture is identical to another one.
These blown-fabric lights fascinate me because of how innovatively they were created; it is not very common or intuitive to apply the processing methods of a particular material to one that is wildly different. Because of materials’ inherent differences in molecular structure and mechanical properties, it is hard to treat certain materials in similar ways to others. However, nendo, in their playful approach to design, created lighting fixtures with an unlikely material and an unlikely building process.
In this class, I would like to approach the work we will do in a similarly playful and thoughtful manner. I’d like to explore ways to use materials in unexpected ways to create unexpected structures that pique people’s curiosities and that are inviting to people for them to interact with the structures.