dratz1-537x402

This roughly 2,000-square-foot office building was built by two German architects who are brothers out of compressed recycled paper. That’s not surprising. After all, if anyone is going to build something out of paper that kind of looks like a late modernist painting it’s going to be two German brothers named Dratz.

Reader support helps sustain our work. Donate today to keep our climate news free. All donations DOUBLED!

So obviously this thing is cool-looking. And here’s the inside, also cool-looking:

dratz3-537x355

Grist thanks its sponsors. Become one.

But then, what I’m a little worried about here is a little thing called precipitation. Well, apparently the Brothers Dratz were concerned about this too — they don’t let just anyone be an architect in Germany, you have to understand the importance of keeping moisture outside of a building — but what they discovered is that compressed paper is actually pretty waterproof. It can hold up to several days of rain and then just dry out in the sun. Just like a towel. Except that a towel is not a good place for an office of course. And we suspect the Brothers Dratz know that, because they are smart enough to make waterproof buildings out of paper, NOT towels, and this one is just a start. They plan on making more.