2025 | Professional

MUSE Design Awards Gold Winner

Fat Wood Shoji

Entrant Company

Muneji Toh Architects

Category

Product Design - Windows, Doors

Client's Name

Country / Region

Japan

We created a Shoji using fat wood, which is rich in resin. Shoji is a Japanese sliding door. The fat wood is a precious material that can be extracted from resinous pine. By replacing Japanese paper with this material, we create Fat Wood Shoji. Fat Wood Shoji glows a bewitching red in the light.
The resin of pine, which has long been disliked because it is high in resin and difficult to use and maintain, has been transformed into a beautiful material through various processing techniques and changed it to an advanced design. By transforming previously unused wood into beautiful materials and creating sliding door for use in everyday life, we recycle the fat wood of our forest resource.
The fat wood boards are made by top woodworkers who use a special process to change them into a thin shape. The fat wood boards are inserted into the washi paper to create Fat Wood Shoji. This technique allows it to capture the light and glow a bewitching red. During the day, the interior side glows red due to the natural light from outside, and at night, the exterior side glows red due to the indoor lighting. The red glowing surface is inverted during the day and night.
However, the fat wood is high in resin, and when the resin rises to the surface it becomes dirty with dust, so a special coating is used to prevent the resin from rising to the surface while preserving the beauty and grain of the wood, and to ensure functionality.
The fat wood catches the light and glows a bewitching red, like wooden stained glass. In addition, as the resin ages, it permeates the entire grain of the wood, and the surface changes to a beautiful amber color, lighting up with a deeper red. The aging that occurs over time in fat wood allow you to enjoy the material for a long time.
We believe that Fat Wood Shoji, which makes use of the characteristics of woods will be an advanced design that will add elegance to a variety of spaces.

Credits

Muneji Toh Architects
Muneji Toh
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