WooJai Lee’s PaperBricks Objects of the Moment

Korean-New Zealander, designer WooJai Lee has given newspapers a second life transforming them into multifunctional blocks. PaperBricks are sturdy, but soft to the touch.

Netherlands-based Lee turns discarded newspapers into a pulp, mixes in wood glue, and presses it into molds to form bricks that look like concrete masonry units. Once the shape has set, the bricks are taken out of the mold to dry, and then sanded for uniform and smooth edges. The 2-inch-thick bricks measure 4 inches wide by 11.8 inches long, and have a marble-like surface reminiscent of the Turkish Ebru art form.

Though Lee is still figuring out more applications for his creation, he has already put together a furniture series called PaperBricks Pallets, which consists of a side table and two benches. The collection demonstrates the use of PaperBricks as functional building blocks.

“PaperBricks are currently under development into interior pieces such as wall panels and room dividers [in order] to further [explore] series of furniture and objects,” Lee says.

Lee is originally from Palmerston North. He is a recent graduate of the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

Original article by Selin Ashaboglu, Architect Magazine, October 13, 2016.