The Curious Case of Paper As Structure
Structural design with paper
Folding paper into strong, stable, and beautiful objects has been the guiding principle of the Japanese art of Origami. Do the qualities ‘strong, stable, and beautiful’ sound familiar? Well, they are the Vitruvian principles of a building! Can the same paper be crafted into a building’s structure?
Architect Shigeru Ban innovated one of the most compelling cases for paper as a building material. He has pushed the boundaries of lean structural design and minimalist aesthetic using ‘Cardboard’ which was misunderstood as an ‘almost disposable’ material with low strength and durability - until he proved it otherwise. Cardboard can be used in the form of paper tubes or even honeycomb panels. The embodied energy of cardboard tends to vary depending on the type of paper fibres used, i.e. natural/virgin fibres, which are highly energy-intensive to process vs recycled fibres which are more sustainable. Nevertheless, the most significant benefit of cardboard is the opportunity to recycle paper and cellulose fibres while challenging the creativity of architects and engineers in optimizing structural design.
Here are five creative explorations of paper as a building material:
Shredded Paper Board is a new composite material manufactured in the labs of Nottingham Trent University, comparable to MDF in strength. Dr Anton Ianakiev, Hooi Cheah and Dr Anthony Crabbe figured out a way to mix sodium silicate and shredded office paper to create compressed boards, which are currently being explored to build raised access floor panels.
PaperCrete is a form of fibrous cement made of re-pulped waste paper (old newspapers, prints, cardboards etc.) mixed with Portland cement and sometimes with sandy soil as an additive. The inherent hydrogen bonds in the microstructure of the paper give it strength. Its low carbon footprint, recycled nature, and low embodied energy make it a potentially useful alternative to regular concrete with subsequent experiments on its properties, standardization tests, and manufacturing processes.
Paper Brick is a promising building material given its mechanical and thermal performance for a lightweight brick made of recycled paper, binder and aggregate. It essentially involves kneading the binder-paper assembly consisting of sand, cement, and paper pulp powder mixed homogeneously with water in ten minutes - which also makes the material energy efficient while it's prepared.
Newspaper Wood completes the cycle of wood to paper and then from (news)paper back to a form of processed material that has physical properties and the aesthetic of wood. The innovator of the material, Mieke Meijer, uses a unique method of layering to manufacture and fold techniques for reinforcement in this material that has wood-like structures from old and recycled newspapers.
The Honext Board is an incredibly innovative material made from ‘cellulosic waste’ - essentially the fibres from recycled and reused paper waste that would otherwise be disposed of in a landfill or burnt. It’s a highly durable, sustainable, non-toxic, and resilient material that can be crafted with tools and joineries identical to those used for wood.
Here are five creative explorations of paper as a building material:
Shredded Paper Board is a new composite material manufactured in the labs of Nottingham Trent University, comparable to MDF in strength. Dr Anton Ianakiev, Hooi Cheah and Dr Anthony Crabbe figured out a way to mix sodium silicate and shredded office paper to create compressed boards, which are currently being explored to build raised access floor panels.
PaperCrete is a form of fibrous cement made of re-pulped waste paper (old newspapers, prints, cardboards etc.) mixed with Portland cement and sometimes with sandy soil as an additive. The inherent hydrogen bonds in the microstructure of the paper give it strength. Its low carbon footprint, recycled nature, and low embodied energy make it a potentially useful alternative to regular concrete with subsequent experiments on its properties, standardization tests, and manufacturing processes.
Paper Brick is a promising building material given its mechanical and thermal performance for a lightweight brick made of recycled paper, binder and aggregate. It essentially involves kneading the binder-paper assembly consisting of sand, cement, and paper pulp powder mixed homogeneously with water in ten minutes - which also makes the material energy efficient while it's prepared.
Newspaper Wood completes the cycle of wood to paper and then from (news)paper back to a form of processed material that has physical properties and the aesthetic of wood. The innovator of the material, Mieke Meijer, uses a unique method of layering to manufacture and fold techniques for reinforcement in this material that has wood-like structures from old and recycled newspapers.
The Honext Board is an incredibly innovative material made from ‘cellulosic waste’ - essentially the fibres from recycled and reused paper waste that would otherwise be disposed of in a landfill or burnt. It’s a highly durable, sustainable, non-toxic, and resilient material that can be crafted with tools and joineries identical to those used for wood.
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