Lumi-Line

March 29, 2009
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Phosphorescent fiber-reinforced plastic

The depth of designer Kazuko Akamatsu’s Lumi-Line tabletop is only 3 millimeters, thanks to engineering ingenuity and a synergistic combination of materials. Akamatsu adhered bundled fiberglass threads to a nonstructural, translucent plastic sheet with a translucent liquid glue. The pattern of the reinforcing strings is not random, but rather the result of a structural study to determine how to construct the thinnest tabletop possible. The table surface, reinforcing, and legs all act together as one system in order to resist loads and allow the legs to be placed away from expected locations.

While Lumi-Line allows light to pass through its milky surface by day, it assumes an entirely different character at night. Akamatsu imbued the fiber strands with phosphorescence, thus rendering the strings as sharp glowing lines floating midair in the dark.

Contact: CAt, Tokyo, Japan.

For more information, see Transmaterial 2: A Catalog of Materials That Redefine our Physical Environment

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