Two three-dimensional works for the Individual Circulation exhibition at Toyoko Inn Haneda Airport II. The works utilize aluminum bottles and recycled plastic assembled in an architecturally stimulating manner, as part of the Toyoko Inn’s efforts to be a member of an eco-friendly society.

 

1.Aluminum small bridge
Aluminum is an interesting protean material. It is multifaceted with applications ranging from yogurt lids to airplanes. It seems to have a high recycling rate, about 98% in Japan, with a particularly high horizontal recycling rate (i.e., can to can) of about 91%, higher than the 15.7% rate for plastic bottles. I learned that, theoretically, it is possible to continue recycling semi-permanently.
Such a discovery led me to consider focusing on the properties of aluminum when planning the structure. It lifts with little force and lifts much heavier than it actually is. Hollow forming makes it even lighter and stronger. We tried to create a bridge that directly expresses this structural property. Its protean nature makes it malleable enough to be transformed into a larger scaled bridge.

 

2. Intangible tangible
Pellets are tiny grains that exist for a moment in the plastic recycling process. The sorted waste plastic is melted and colored to become pellets. It is then dissolved again and reborn as something different.
Touching the pellets, fantasy of thoughts “our world might be the same” came up. A miniature model of an actual city was made, using pellets. The micronized city looks somewhat anonymous and ephemeral.

 

 

Graphic design: Nanami Norita
Cooperation: Tetsuya Tanaka Structural Engineers