the jenju village community in taiwan, also known as 'jane's pearl', is the ancestral site of the pingpu kamalan tribe. the dongshan river runs directly through the community,
making it ideal for residents to preserve the area's rice paddy-based industry, which accounts
for up to 136 hectares of the area in and around the village. following each rice harvest,
a huge amount of rice straw is left behind. historically for farmers, this was an essential
building and material supply. however, with our changing times, this excess supply is
no longer needed for building and is not being utilized.



'story nest'
straw, iron rods


sparrows are inherently consumers of grain, and as such, early farmers had to protect their crops;
this is how the scarecrow was born. the use of scarecrows to rid fields of crop destroying
sparrows is considered to be the more civil approach, as at one point in history, there was a
'kill the sparrow' campaign launched to make sure they didn't return. though the campaign
was successful at saving the grain and rice fields, this meant that sparrows weren't eating them,
and the locust population ballooned and swarms of insects destroyed the fields anyways.
now the sparrow is no longer considered to be the destroyer of rice fields, but is seen as an
integral part of the area's ecological balance. as we learn from nature's mentors, the concept
of 'symbiosis' can be seen vividly. taiwan is currently facing many agricultural changes,
as certain types of materials and products are being removed from their areas. jenju village
communities are promoting the symbiotic concept of peaceful coexistence with nature,
encouraging us to return what we have expelled, so that nature can begin to produce and
provide us with essentials once again.

for the preservation of the village's rural culture and ideas concerning the environment,
taiwanese designers gina hsu and nagaaki shaw have developed 'rice straw design' -
a series of objects - in which the straw received from the fields is used by the community
to promote the material itself, becoming a point of departure for use in arts and crafts.
as part of the development and usage of this rice straw, a museum, as well as a DIY shop
has been established so that visitors can experience the art and craft of working with the
natural material.

the collection of objects includes: 'straw stool', 'bird feeder' and 'story nest'.



'story nest'


trapped within the hustle and bustle of the urban jungle, most urbanites spend a lot of
time during their day in search of a quiet corner to rest and escape the turbulent nature
of the city. the 'story nest' is aimed at providing a private sitting room, much like a bird's nest.
the cradle-like sitting room is a good place to escape the everyday.



detail 'story nest'





'bird feeder'
straw, bamboo strips, steel wire


rice and sparrows in nature have always had a sort of interdependent relationship,
so the use of the jenju village community's straw weaving techniques to produce this
bird feeder seemed natural. this object means that between the busy city and one's own house,
small city sparrows may also have somewhere to go and become someone's kind little neighbour.



'bird feeder' variations



'bird feeder'





'straw stool'
straw, epoxy resin


rice or grain products have advantages and disadvantages concerning its usages as a
design material. one of the advantages of rice straw, rice bran or rice itself is that it is
rich in texture. however, the major disadvantage of these materials is that they do not
possess enough long-term durability. hsu and shaw have combined epoxy resin with the
straw and rice to improve their resilience and durability so that the materials may serve
a broader purpose and be transformed into items used in the home on a daily basis.



'straw stool'



rice paddy fields



collecting the rice straw



collecting the rice straw




rice straw



preparation of rice straw

the projects will be on show at the lanyang museum, taiwan until september 26th, 2010.