kengo kuma: eska plastic optical fiber for tokyo fiber 09 senseware

eska – optical fiber installation by kengo kuma image © designboom

the luminous fiber eska is an optical fiber made with plastic. the special technology comes from luccon in austria. kengo kuma collaborated with the company to create his installation for the tokyo fiber senseware exhibition.

luccon is a high strength concrete embedded with large numbers of optical fibers that let light through and make the light translucent. at first sight, it appears to have a hard stone like texture, but a light placed behind a block of luccon passes through the optical fibers, projecting light, shadow and even images onto the front of the block, which acts like a screen.

‘eska’ installation

‘eska’ installation

‘I was attracted by the ambiguity of this material, which combines a heavy solidity with the delicacy of a visual medium. In order to maximize the effect of this property, I designed blocks shaped like pieces cut from a cake. oriented so that the pointed end is on the inside of the building, the light entering is amplified and spread over up to 1.8 times the surface area on the outside of the block. that is achieved because the shape gives a greater surface area inside than outside. this approach also gives the inside of the wall a pleated surface, creating new 3d patterns with the light and images passing through the blocks.’

wall installation image © designboom

wall installation image © designboom

the installation demonstrating the translucent light

the light penetrable masonry effectively overturns conventional concepts of walls, roofs and windows.

the installation demonstrating the translucent light