Star Bridge Installation by Nii An at Sillicon Milkroundabout 7.0

Star Bridge is an art installation designed by an Interior and Spatial Designer Nii An, inspired by the ancient Japanese Tanabata legend in which the Star Festival is associated with. The work was commissioned by Silicon Milkroundabout, who runs regular events designed to match talented people with the thousands of jobs on offer at UK tech startups.

Nii utilises various paper craft skills to its full extent to create this installation piece - folding, cutting and integrating. Each geometric object comprises of multiple origami papers, folded and tightly interlocked together without any use of glue, and every single piece is hand made.

In line with the Tanabata legend, which is said to bring the two star-crossed lovers, Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair) together once a year, the installation piece celebrates this event which also acts as a bridge to bring people together.

Nii grew up in Japan before moving to UK to study at a boarding school at the age of 15. She studied art and design at the Central Saint Martins’ College of Art and Design, and Interior and Spatial Design at Chelsea College of Art and Design. Her works were short listed for the Audi Young Designer Competition and Highly Commended for Malvern Fine Arts Society Exhibition. She has also completed her Masters in Housing and Urbanism at the Architectural Association School of Architecture. Her final dissertation focused on emerging strategies for urban living in Tohoku area after the catastrophic Tsunami in 2011, and has been involved series of charity events since then.

She has been working as an Interior Designer for a London based architectural firm, and has been working on various projects for universities such as UCL and schools in Cambridge. She has also participated in the Venice Architecture Biennale 2012, in which the design team was selected amongst 10 Architects to exhibit at the British Pavilion. Nii’s architectural interests go beyond the built environment to include art, design and installations, often utilising her intricate origami and paper craft skills deeply rooted in her cultural background.

Free entry (Online registration required at http://www.siliconmilkroundabout.com)