A Japanese fabric manufacturer has teamed up with Kengo Kuma and Associates to demonstrate how carbon fibre curtains can protect buildings from earthquakes.

Komatsu Seiren have opened a laboratory in the city of Nomi, Ishikawa Prefecture, to showcase the invention – which is formed of carbon fibre mixed with a high tensile twine-like material.

These curtains, or rods, spread across the structure like a curtain and tether it to the ground. The architects claim these anchors are ten times stronger than steel ones, and have enough flexibility to be stop a building swaying in different directions as it’s jolted by tremors.

The material can be integrated with new structures or retrofitted with existing ones.

Japan has around 1,500 earthquakes every year and researchers have long been searching for new ways to protect houses and leisure buildings in need of protection, particularly in dense urban areas.

In Europe, researchers from the University of Freiburg recently claimed that architects wishing to create quake-resistant buildings should seek inspiration from the hard shells of coconuts, which have ladder-like vessels in their inner layer to dissipates energy and reduce cracks caused by heavy impacts.

Coconuts can inspire us to make stronger buildings, say scientists

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