1. JAN 2010 - DEC 2012, Tokyo , JAPAN
Portfolio
Architecture / Taichi Kuma

2. Taichi Kuma
--------------------------------------------------------------- 01 Circle Pack Pavilion /Sep,2012/---------------------p3-p9
Education: 02 Shrink Film Architecture /Jan,20|2/---------------p10-p17
2012-Present PhD corse, University of Tokyo
2010-2012 Gadutate School, Department of Architec 03 Ori -Folding Light- /Aug,2011/--------------------p18-p20
ture, Univeristy of Tokyo
2005-2010 Bachelor, Department of Architecture, To 04 Digital Tea House /Aug,2010/ ----------------------p21-p25
kyo Universty of Science
2001-2004 Gyosei High School 05 Multinational Market /Jan,2010/-------------------p26-p31
1998-2001 Gyosei Junior High School
1985,SEP,02 Born in Tokyo, JAPAN
Research :
2012 Shrink Film Architecture - Studies from 2D pat-
terns to 3D form
Awards :
2010 Graduation project, 2nd prize in departmnt of ar
chitecture, Tokyo university of science
2011 Gold Award in Koizumi International Lightning De-
sign Competition 24th (collaborated with Braver-
man Anna, Haruka Tomoeda, Shohei Takei)
2012 Master thesis, 1st place in department of archi-
tecture and awarded as the prize of the school of
engineering, the University of Tokyo
Presentation :
2011 UIA2011 TOKYO THE 24th World Congress of
Architecture”Digital Tea House”
2011 ALGODE International Symposium on Algorithmic
Design for Architecture and Urban Design “nihon-
bashi_0”
2012 The Annual Convention of Architectural Institute
of Japan “SHRINK FILM ARCHITECTURE“
Publication :
2010 GSAPP+UTDA Summer Workshop Digital Teahouse Ocot-
ber issue of SHINKENCHIKU
2011 “Digital Tea House” January issue of Domus
---------------------------------------------------------------
2

3. 01 Circle Pack Pavilion
Exhibition:
“Arch-Neering Design Exhibiton”2012 / Tokyo Designers Week
2012
Period:
JULY,2012 - OCTOBER,2012
Prof :
Yusuk Obuchi, Jun Sato
Teaching Assistant:
Toshikatsu Kiuchi, So Sugita
Position :
Project Leader, Member of Obuchi Lab / Digital Fabrication
Lab
Co-Member :
Xuhao Lin, Kyaw Htoo, Wang Chong, Guillaume Dumont, Wang Lin
3

4. Context
This is the project to construct the pavilion in real scale.
In Obuchi Lab / Digital Fabrication Lab at the University of
Tokyo, we are doing research on shrink film since 2011. For this
example we used the shrink film and a bunch of bamboo rings.
Shrink film, which is basically known as a package material, ex-
ists in a variety of sizes and thicknesses, and can be shrunk
by applying heat. First, we attach the bamboo rings to this
film, and heat it by heat gun. Then, it can be shrunk, solidified
and become 3D form, thus shirking and solidifying the 3D form..
usage of shrink film_01 usage of shrink film_02 usage of shrink film_03
label for bottles wrapping for bottles wrapping for ships
shrink-film(before shrinking) and bamboo rings
4

5. Material
Since there are many types of shrink film, we researched several
types of shrink film. They differ in their ingredients, thick-
ness, way of shrinking, heating temperature, rigidity and so MANUFACTURE/ BEFORE HEATING AFTER HEATING DIMENSIONAL TYPE/ HEATING TIME BEHAVIOR
on. For this project we especially need rigidity of the film TRADE NAME CHANGES LAYERING & TEMPERATURE
after shrinking. For this reason, we choose the material below,
which was mainly used for the labels of plastic bottles. 30 20
SANO ENTERPRISE 24 30 cm X 30 cm PE 2:54:41 SOFT BEFORE
30
20 cm X 24 cm WHITE HEAT LEVEL 5 SHRINK & MAIN-
TAIN ELASTICITY
30
25
DR. SHRINK
30 cm X 30 cm PE 2:38:31 SOFT BEFORE
30 13 25 cm X 13 cm WHITE HEAT LEVEL 5 SHRINK & MAIN-
TAIN ELASTICITY
30
10
OJI PACK 30 cm X 30 cm PE 6:38:47 SOFT BEFORE
10 cm X 25 cm TRANSPARENT HEAT LEVEL 5 SHRINK & MAIN-
30 25 TAIN ELASTICITY
30
15
FREE STYLE 30 cm X 30 cm PE + PP + PE 0:52:64 IMMEDIATE SHRINK
30 17 15 cm X 17 cm TRANSPARENT HEAT LEVEL 3 AND HARD
30
MANUFACTURE : GUNZE
TYPE : PET 17
THICKNESS : 30mm SEKISUI 30 cm X 30 cm TRANS- 5:18:02 SOFT BEFORE
30 17 17cm X 16 cm PARENT HEAT LEVEL 3 SHRINK & MAIN-
HEATING TME & LEVEL : 0:50:15, LEVEL 3 TAIN ELASTICITY
BEHAVIOR : IMMEDIATE SHRINK AND HARD
30
23
OKURA INDUSTRIAL 30 cm X 30 cm TRANS- soft before
4:15:01
30 23 23cm X 20 cm PARENT shrink & main-
heat level 3
tain elasticity
5

6. Structural Experiment
WEIGHT:
In addition to the basic material research, we tested the
structural properties of films. We attached the same foam boards
(differing only in color) into the 2 different types of films.
And, we shrank both of them and made the arch shown on right
side. We then loaded and tested which one can stand longer 0 g
while the loads became heavier. Finally, it turned out that the
“freestyle” film is 2.3 times stronger than oji packs.
Furthermore, for finalizing the scale of the pavilion, we tested
the structural limitations of the film with the bamboo rings.
500 g
1000 g
1500 g
OJ PACK FAIL
2000 g
form board abd shrink film [Oji pack] form board abd shrink film [freestyle]
2500 g
3000 g
4m
3500 g
FREE STYLE FAIL
structural test in large scale form shallow curvature after shrink strength test between Oji pack and freestyle 6