Beautiful silk kimono fabrics have been produced in Kyoto prefecture for hundreds of years. They are highly valued, but demand is diminishing as traditional kimono’s are no longer worn on a day to day basis. With the decline of the silk industry, we are seeing the decline and disappearance of a whole range of related specialised professions and heritage-rich practices. In an effort to reverse this process, and to make the silk industry more adaptable, silk weavers collaborated with material scientists from the Department of Advanced Fibro-Science at Kyoto Institute of Technology (KIT), working on fiber reinforced plastics (FRP).
The KYOTO Design Lab of KIT, invited Bureau Baggerman to bring traditional industry, science and design together. The focus was to identify new uses for traditionally produced silk by transforming the material through the use of plastics, and to design a range of conceptual products to demonstrate the material’s potential.
The KYOTO Design Lab of KIT, invited Bureau Baggerman to bring traditional industry, science and design together. The focus was to identify new uses for traditionally produced silk by transforming the material through the use of plastics, and to design a range of conceptual products to demonstrate the material’s potential.
The specific qualities of Japanese kimono silk (lustre, drape, touch, etc.) are achieved through a highly specialised production process, which disappear when covered in plastic resin used to make FRP. Moreover, silk is a natural product and when combined with synthetic resin, it can no longer be part of the natural material cycle. With Woven Light the idea of using silk to reinforce plastic was reversed and biodegradable PLA was used instead to reinforce the fine silk fabric.
By fusing graphic elements of 3D printed PLA in between layers of silk, juxtapositions such as suppleness and rigidity, translucence and opacity, could be explored in the material. Instead of attempting to modernise traditional products through design, the silk was redefined as a material, and new qualities such as the possibility to bend, pleat and fold the fabric into three dimensional shapes were developed. This allows products to be designed and constructed in new and sustainable ways.
By fusing graphic elements of 3D printed PLA in between layers of silk, juxtapositions such as suppleness and rigidity, translucence and opacity, could be explored in the material. Instead of attempting to modernise traditional products through design, the silk was redefined as a material, and new qualities such as the possibility to bend, pleat and fold the fabric into three dimensional shapes were developed. This allows products to be designed and constructed in new and sustainable ways.
The results are prototypes for different lighting objects, suggesting possible product applications for reinforced silk. Other samples suggest more broader applications, such as thermoformed silk panels. Each lighting prototype is made using the full width of the silk fabric, eliminating cutting waste. By using a 3D printer to print the plastic reinforcements, an essentially waste-free production is possible. Aside from structural reinforcement the 3D printed shapes also serve as visual reinforcement, their simple shapes forming intricate pattens when the objects are constructed.