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