Kamakura Folding Screen
Kamakura Folding Screen
Kamakura Japanese Restaurant
Champaign, Illinois
This folding screen was among the elements designed specifically for the Kamakura Japanese Restaurant. The intention was to modify and reinterpret the form of the traditional Shoji screen.
Shoji are typically constructed of rice paper sandwiched between lapped wood joints (Ai-gaki). The fire code forbid the use of flammable rice paper for the restaurant interior. Meanwhile, the budget did not accommodate the expense of carpentry approximating traditional cross-lapped connections.
Translucent fiberglass fabric was selected as a substitute for the rice paper. Since the fabric was not certified for flame retardancy, the building inspector field-tested the material before approval. The thin wood strips are glued to the fiberglass, one side vertically, the opposing side horizontally, to create an elusive grid pattern determined by light orientation.
Commissioned Project: 1995
Completed: 1996