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Using Tracing Paper and Rice Water, Designer Pao Hui Kao Creates a Sturdy Furniture Collection

All images © Pao Hui Kao

When Eindhoven-based designer Pao Hui Kao realized she was allergic to some of the pigments and coatings used in household furnishings, she decided to construct her own minimalist collection. The result is a line of tables, seats, shelves, and a light fixture made almost entirely of tracing-paper tubes soaked in rice water.

To ensure the sturdiness of her mostly-white designs, Hui Kao varies the size of her paper rolls. As they dry, the rice water binds each wrinkled piece together. In a statement about the wrinkle-filled project, the designer noted that she hoped to reconsider paper’s functionality and explore its potential. “Water is usually not welcome in the world of paper. I realized, however, that when water is absorbed by paper, it brings power to the inner structure,” she said.

Hui Kao also told Dezeen that part of her interest in the project was to find materials that wouldn’t create more waste once they were out of use. “By having a better understanding of how recycling systems work in real life, I tend to investigate a new way of creating objects, and study the relationship between objects, bodies, and recycling systems,” she said. “Paper is the perfect fit—it’s one of the daily used goods and a really neutral material.”

Head to Instagram for more of the Hui Kao’s sustainable designs.

“Strength from paper,” paper and rice glue, 45 x 40 x 45 and 55 x 50 x 65 centimeters

“Let’s get wrinkle!” paper and rice glue, 400 x 200 x 45 centimeters

“There is a cloud!” paper and rice glue, 550 x 550 x 45 centimeters

“I don’t think it is a lotus!” paper, rice glue, and resin, 60 x 50 x 55 centimeters

“A slice of cave,” paper, rice glue, and wood, 110 x 110 x 50 centimeters

“Roma,” paper, rice glue, and resin, 110 x 45 x 70 centimeters

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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2020/03/using-tracing-paper-and-rice-water-designer-pao-hui-kao-creates-a-sturdy-furniture-collection/