Carbon Kekkai Divider

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The term Kekkai originates from an ancient past of religious beliefs and the common notion of Kekkai means "to limit access of a zone", often represented through the use of bamboo divider. This notion has developed to become a commonality in spaces that we build around us. By introducing a contemporary light-weight composite material - carbon fiber, the traditional, pragmatic and semantic value of bamboo has evolved to become this modern piece of design - Carbon Kekkai, thus, becoming a representation of a space divider that separates and connects; a transition that allows exchange.

Carbon Kekkai was one of the design exhibits for Exchanged Forms Exhibition in Milan Design Week, Ventura Future UNIVERSITA 2018.

The exhibition springs from an experiment of “propagation and indigenization of culture”, a process whereby young designers from Kyoto Institute of Technology and the National University of Singapore exchanged pictures of objects, places and sceneries that are typical of their own countries. On the basis of this exchange, the designed objects where the suggestions received are filtered through their own cultural and social background. The result of this process looks very interesting since it connects two distant realities. At first glance, these two Asian cities are opposites, in culture, landscape, weather, language, crafts and tradition. The image of Kyoto brings forth an overwhelming sense of tradition, precision and craftsmanship. Singapore, on the other hand, is a city that is in a constant metamorphosis, in a constant process of tearing down and rebuilding.