Adapting a traditional Japanese method of making paper, Nendo has created a series of lamps that are perfectly smooth on one side and gently wrinkled on the other.
The Semi-Wrinkled Washi collection of pendant and table lamps was made in collaboration with Taniguchi Aoya Washi, a traditional Japanese paper company and the country’s only domestic producer of three-dimensional washi.
Washi paper is generally tougher than ordinary paper made from wood pulp, and is used in many traditional Japanese arts like origami, shodo (calligraphy), and ukiyo-e (woodblock prints) as well as everyday goods like clothes, household goods, and toys.
The washi papermaking technique uses plant fibres instead of wood pulp and, “is made by passing fine screens through a bath of plant fibres and water to collect the pulp; once dried one can peel off the new paper sheets”, says Nendo founder, Oki Sato.
For the collection, Nendo found that adding Devil's Tongue or Konnyaku fibres to the pulp mixture allowed them to create wrinkles, which highlight both the softness and the tensility that could only be achieved using three-dimensional washi paper.
The items are sold at Seibu department stores in Japan.
