#materials

Bamboo is not wood — it is a grass. Its cellular structure is entirely different: dense outer fibers, progressively less dense toward the core. This g…

Shou sugi ban (yakisugi, 焼杉) is a traditional Japanese technique of charring cedar to preserve it. The outer layer of char seals the wood against mois…

Urushi (Japanese lacquerware) uses the sap of Toxicodendron vernicifluum, the lacquer tree. The sap is applied in thin layers, each cured in a humid e…