Recycling’s New Frontier: Paper Architecture

Image courtesy Forgemind AchiMedia via Flickr

History of Recycling and Paper Architecture

Recycling has been a part of American history since its origins. At first, materials were recycled due to a lack of resources. Then during the 19th-century recycling gave way to professional rag pickers who collected waste to be sold for recycling. On January 22, 1853, The New York Times published an interview with a woman who worked as a rag picker earning two shillings a day. This slowly gave way to private trash collectors who became the center of conversation during the efforts to reserve and reuse resources during World War Two. Posters from the early 1940s depict a call to collect and sell waste materials to assist in the war efforts.

Image courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

It was not until the 1970s that separating recycling at point of source gained traction in America, fueled by the overflowing landfills. Since then the recycling infrastructure and collective public knowledge on recycling has continued to grow. We have slowly come to understand a hierarchy of good in the world of recyclables. Plastic’s origins in fossil fuel and complex recycling processes have encouraged reducing our dependency on plastic especially when it comes to single-use items. Paper, as a result, has become a popular alternative, replacing everything from grocery bags, straws, take-out containers to water bottles. 

Paper Recycling Today

A narrative of infinite reuse has made paper seem like an ideal option. But not all everyday paper can make it through the recycling process. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, paper can only be recycled five to seven times before the fibers become too short to bond into new paper.

When the fibers become too small they must be removed from the recycling process and replaced with fresh fibers to help the pulp bind into usable paper. This means even in the best circumstances, not all paper can be recycled. Typically fresh pulp is used to make pristine products, such as printer paper. With each recycling cycle, the fibers get shorter and are turned into lesser quality products such as cardboard, butcher paper, and newsprint. 

This cycle of limited reuse is especially concerning given our societal understanding of paper as a clean way of producing temporal single-use products. While better than its alternative of plastic, the cyclical nature of paper does raise the question: Is there a better use of this material other than single-use items? 

Paper Architecture Precedent

For centuries Shoji screens have been a part of the Japanese built environment. These screens made of paper placed onto bamboo framework provide a way to diffuse light and create interior separation of space. The same qualities of fragility and transparency that give the Shoji its ephemeral quality are central to paper lanterns often found in East Asian cultures. 

By looking to these historic and important traditions of paper architecture we can begin to imagine a future where paper products in the built environment are more permanent. Some designers have already started to explore the possibilities of building with paper. A group of designers in the Netherlands has developed a wood made from layers of newspapers called NewspaperWood. Its founder Mieke Meijer is then using the wood to construct pieces of furniture, watches, lighting and even car interiors. 

A Canadian studio, Molo Design Ltd, has explored how paper can be folded to create strong structures. Molo uses repetition of accordion-like folds to create furniture pieces ranging from simple stools to room dividers with integrated seating. Each piece can be easily folded and unfolded as needed, creating a more environmentally friendly alternative to temporary or short use plastic pieces. 

And some architects such as Shigeru Ban are already using paper for large-scale architecture. Ban has used paper tubes as a major element for his project “Cardboard Cathedral” located in New Zealand. The Cathedral opened in 2013, just two years after an earthquake destroyed the city’s iconic 1864 Anglican Cathedral. The Cardboard Cathedral is constructed as a temporary structure with a lifespan of about fifty years while a more permanent replacement is built.  Ban has been using recycled cardboard tubes since the late 1990s for emergency relief structures stating, “Even concrete buildings can be destroyed by earthquakes very easily, but paper building cannot.” 

There are countless other ways in which paper architecture can be integrated into our built environment. These designers are paving the way for envisioning a built environment where our furniture can be recycled at the end of its life and harmful construction materials can be replaced with a less harmful alternative. Furthermore, these explorations with paper provide a starting point to exploring the possibilities of the material.  

Image courtesy of Molo Design

Future of Paper Architecture

NewspaperWood and Molo Design work with paper in its original form, but what are the possibilities for the paper fibers that are too short to be recycled? Could these be produced into new materials? The work of Studio Woojai in the Netherlands can begin to provide inspiration for what can be produced with the leftovers. WooJai Lee has been producing pieces using paper pulp mixed with sawdust and wood glue. While Lee’s existing work does not make use of end-of-life short fiber paper it is easy to imagine that replacement. Could the fibers not long enough to form paper products in the recycling process be combined with other materials to create a new composite product? Perhaps the new composite material could also begin to solve some of the problems inherently tied to building with paper such as durability and fire resistance. 

The low cost of recycling combined with easy and abundant access makes paper architecture the perfect new frontier for design exploration and opportunity in the recycling world. The everyday waste of our homes, schools and offices could build our cities, dwellings and the furniture inside them. 

By: Ruby Kaur, GKV Architects