V&A Sake Bar / Paper Bar
2016 Blueprint Innovation Awards Commended
We were invited by the Victoria & Albert Museum to design and build a sake bar within the historic Raphael Room as part of the Neo Nipponica festival.
A piece of architecture that is both ambiguous in its fineness and scale. Made entirely from paper, it is simultaneously delicate to touch, yet combines 421,000 folds into a single landscape. The 18 honeycomb expanding sections connect to form a bar in the round, with different sinusoidal pockets around the edge stimulating different social groups and interactions. These curves negotiate between the internal resistances of the paper and the asymmetrical placement of arches. Each section was stretched from 7cm depth to 1.8m and the entire bar was assembled in several hours.
The honeycomb surface forms a resilient bar top that can be planted with fresh flowers and lights, forming pockets of foliage that help choreograph the audience around its perimeter.
Commissioned by: Victoria and Albert Museum
Purpose: Sake Bar (design + fabrication + installation)
