In a traditional Japanese room, “fusuma” is the whole sliding door. It is a light wooden frame and an inner core, covered on both faces with fusuma paper. It divides a room.
Japanese houses are kept simple, so a room often changes purpose during the day. A bedroom can become a hall. The doors give you a boundary you can move.
In India, you can use the same idea for a minimal interior. You do not alter the structure of the house. You change the living space to suit what you need.
The diagram below shows the paper layers. Together they make the door you see in the exhibit.
- 框 Frame. All the wood.
- Paper layers
- 引手 Hold it and slide the door.
What can you do with it?
- Close it to split one room into two.
- Open it, or lift it out, and two rooms become one big room.
- Use it as the door of a closet where bedding is kept.
- Keep a little of the room's warmth in.
- The paper takes in some damp air, and lets it out again.
- Some fusuma have pictures on the paper.