Instead of leaving spokes out completely, why not lace with much lighter spokes - like 15-17-15 guage butted on the non-drive side and 14-15-14 guage 3X on the drive side.

Wheel building is an act of balancing the forces from the spokes on one side, the spokes on the other side, and the natural shape of the rim. Removing half the spokes form one side gives you a three-legged dog - at best.