Mesmerizing Paper LED Exhibit Illuminates Tokyo Designers Week

Hope Tree is a mesmerizing installation seen at this year's <a href="http://www.tdwa.com/english/exhibition/container_competition.html">Tokyo Designers Week 2010</a> that combines paper and light within a 20 foot shipping container. Visitors walk into the space to find a toroidal surface composed of 670 self-supporting watercolor paper panels punched with leaf-like cutouts. To make the experience even more ethereal, these openings are illuminated by LED string lighting, which allowed for coverage of the entire space with minimal watt usage. Designed by <a href="http://www.24d-studio.com/">24° Studio</a>, Hope Tree was recently announced as one of the winners of the <a href="http://www.dezeen.com/2010/09/05/dezeen-x-design-association-container-competition-winners-2010/">Environmental Container Design &amp; Art Competition</a> sponsored by the Design Association NPO and <a href="http://www.dezeen.com/">Dezeen</a>.

"The Hope Tree installation was envisioned as a spatial condition that attended to question our surroundings as we know it and hoping to generate a discussion and understanding amongst the visitors about the place of our everyday life, our environment. Lately, we are bombarded with products that try to deal with the consequences of environmental damages throughout the world, but occasionally we overlook the roots of these occurring problems by not fully understanding our environment," explains <a href="http://www.24d-studio.com/">24° Studio</a> about the design.

The entire <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toroid">toroidal</a> space was situated within a 20 foot <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/products-2/">shipping container</a>, providing an opportunity to emphasize a curvy enclosure (even though the exterior is naturally very boxy) with the representation of a tree at the center of the space.

The symmetry of the toroidal form allowed for minimized typological variation of each panel, which made the manufacturing process a lot simpler.

The box panels were assembled in a spatial arch (inspired by traditional masonry arch construction), allowing the elliptical ceiling arch load to be equally distributed between the central column and the perimeter wall.

The leaf-like cutouts were strategically sized and deformed.

The openings were backed with a tracing paper which acted as a diffusing surface for the LED string <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/lighting">lighting</a> behind it.

An especially cool feature of the design was that the property of the watercolor paper provided a dynamic response to the conditions within the<a href="http://inhabitat.com/2010/10/28/shipping-container-penthouse-with-an-empire-state-building-view/"> container</a>.

The leaf-like cutouts constantly warped inwards and outwards, changing the play of light depending on the humidity and condensation in the space.

"A tree was chosen as a departing point as we universally can identify with," writes 24 Design of the inspiration.

"Throughout ages the tree has been the most primitive form of a shelter, garden, and, most importantly, our companion. With human innovation and intervention, a tree has been contributing to our lives taking a different form, from a simple paper sheet to a complex house. Every fruit, flower and leaf that bears from tree symbolizes a change and hope for tomorrow. But, even a strong standing tree is frail. If not taken care properly we may eventually cease its presence."

Hope Tree invites viewers to experience their surrounding environment anew through a single tree.

A young visitor enjoying the tree.