Mel Kawahara

Having graduated in architecture by the University of São Paulo (FAU-USP), I am interested in the possibilities of creating design through the direct handling of materials. This is a result of my criticism regarding the development of objects by only the use of the design's rationality and functionality.

My research approaches shapes created by the discoveries made upon handling materials. My most recent series of hand-folded lamps are a result of this study about the material's intrinsic qualities.

Folding a flat surface gives it volume and tridimensionality. The white sheet of paper transforms design and geometry through light and shadow. The acts of folding, unfolding, creasing and pleating are transformed by the research on the material's limits. The purpose of the lamps' delicate quality is to bring sensitivity into our daily lives.