Architect, Shigeru Ban? Why trust him?

I wrote about the cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, created by Japanese architect, Shigeru Ban, as a "temporary replacement" for the one damaged during the earthquake of February 2011.

Want to know what Shigeru Ban did to gain confidence in the statutory authority involved to consider allowing him to use cardboard tubes as construction material for the Cathedral?  Just take a look at some of the past projects he shared during his talk at TED.

Cardboard Cathedral possible? Yes!

Let's build a Cathedral out of cardboard?  Not a miniature to play with but one to worship in?  Sounds cool but are you kidding me?   No, it's not a joke and Japanese architect, Shigeru Ban, made it possible with some shipping containers and ninety-eight cardboard tubes for decoration with timber beams inside to hold the load.

Why do that?  Do you remember the earthquake of February 2011 that struck the South Island of New Zealand? Its historic Anglican Cathedral in Christchurch was damaged.

Well, the so called "temporary replacement" which can last 50 years is finally completed.  And here is how it looks like.  Beautiful.

I picked this up from Gizmag.  It makes you wonder what else have been created with cardboard that are commercially viable, doesn't it?  OK, let's take a look then.



And if you think that it would be too difficult to do your own cardboard furniture, you just have to check out this video by Industrial Designer, Adrian Candela, where he shared why and how his cardboard furniture was created with easy to follow instruction, Ikea style.



Do a search on YouTube for "cardboard furniture" and you will find many more of such creations to inspire you.

Cardboard? Light it up.

Cardboard.  A great packing material.  Though can be recycled, usually discarded .  Left in the bin and damaged by rain. Can't anyone see the value in it?

Vicara did with the creation of Cartonado lamp.  See the light.

VICARA from VICARA on Vimeo.

Be inspired.

A match made in Heaven?

I wrote about cardboard bicycle before.  Wouldn't it be nice to match it with a cardboard helmet?  Before you start laughing at my silly thinking, check out what Anirudha Surabhi has been up to.

Thrown your cardboard? What a shame!

Guess what Izhar Gafni, an engineer, can create with cardboard? Given up?

It's a cardboard bicycle that he can ride on. And mind you, Mr Izhar is not as petite as you may have guessed him to be.  And no, that cardboard bike did not disintegrate on contact with water.

Don't believe me?  Take a look for yourself.


This should put those who could not be bothered with recycling or reusing cardboard boxes to shame.  Don't you agree?

Another Lantern for Mooncake Festival

I thought my son is too old for lanterns until he told me he wants one too after checking out the one I did for his sister.

So here is the model I created for him and it is made up of a cardboard box for a monitor.



It is obvious that I have been inspired by all the traditional stuff I saw during...


...my trip to Beijing.

Holes in boxes? Great for lanterns.

What can you do with fruit boxes with holes for ventilation cut into them?



The mooncake festival is around the corner, so, I created a lantern with one of them.



Calvin love it. So, what am I going to create for my little girl? Is this OK with you, Callie?



I made them with this sheet found in the fruit box.



Like it? Oh, great! Now all I have to do is to decorate it some and add handles. What material am I going to use? Abandoned material, of course! Watch out for my free tutorials on Creative Recyclers.

If you can't wait for the instructions, I have last year's designs for you to work on.

Need concert costumes? Paper and cardboard will do.

When you have a budget to meet creating costumes for your children's school concert, what can you do about it?

The kindergarten my children attended, charged RM50 for costumes required for year end concerts. Most of these creations are not suitable for street wear when they were returned to them after the event.

I have volunteered to create chef hats out of "mahjong" paper and wings of parrots out of plastic bags for children performing "Burung Kakak Tua". It is a pity I did not have any pictures of these to post on my blog but you can be be inspired by Ennio Marchetto.



At Instructables, you will be able to find a few costumes to create for your children for concerts or for some fun at home.

Explore using other kind of scrap materials. For more ideas, do a search on the web for "diy costumes for kids" or "diy (?) costumes". Type in the material you intend to use where the "?" is or go to the local library to find such books in the craft sections.

Here are some websites I have discovered:

Make Your Own Costumes, Masks and Face Paint on Squidoo

Costumes at About.com

Need book stands? Find a paper bag and cardboard.

When one of my friends discovered that I can create with waste material, she has been giving me lots of lovely paper bags to work with. Looking through the collection, I noticed lots of bags from mooncake suppliers with lovely pictures printed on their thick quality paper.



I decided to make use of this paper bag and some cardboards I have collected to create a book stand. It will come in handy for my beading books.



Now look at my new book stand. Like it?



I also discover one thin brown paper bag from Kenny Rogers Roaster. So will I be able to create a book stand out of that? You bet, I can.



I used it to store comics my daughter has collected and placed it on the book shelf with the rest of the book stands I have made with cardboard. Since I have created that with the handle attached, she can carry her collection around with her. That way she can read her comics in the sitting room while watching TV during commercial breaks. A great way to encourage her to polish her Mandarin.



Since she will not be able to miss the carrier, she should no longer be misplacing her comics all over the house.

Neat and nice. The way I like things. And of course, you can learn how to make them too.