Apply for Japan Design Workshop / International Advanced Design Workshop 2016

JDW2014_Sumita-cho

Join us in Japan this summer to continue the work with local communities affected by natural disasters and depopulation:

2016 Japan Design Workshop /
International Advanced Design Workshop

Continuity / Transformation in Architecture & Community Form
21 July – 08 August 2016

 — Application —

 

Architecture students, recent graduates, and professionals are invited to apply. While the official deadlines have passed for the Japan Design Workshop, there is time for last minute inquiries and applications. The deadline for International Advanced Design Workshop applicants is April 1st.

Final decisions will be made by mid-April.

For more information:

Have questions? See our contact page.

Looking forward to reviewing your applications!

Minna no Butai – ‘A Stage for All’ – showcased in JABS

JABS-2015-05-cover

An article showcasing みんなの舞台 Minna no Butai – a Stage for All was recently published in the Japanese publication the Journal of Architecture and Building Science (JABS):

「みんなの舞台」の建設震災後3、4年目における仮設住宅地支援の可能,
Construction of ‘A stage for all’—
Attempts for Temporary Housings 3-4 years After the Disaster

みんなの舞台 Minna no Butai – a Stage for All was built in Summita-cho, Irate-ken by the 2014 MIT Japan Design Workshop in collaboration with the University of Tokyo’s Otsuki Lab.

The author, Saori Imoto, is a Research Associate at the University of Tokyo and a 2005-2006 Veneto Experience alumna.

The full article (in Japanese) can be read and downloaded here.

 

New Yorker Article – ‘The Really Big One’ Forewarns of Pacific NW Event

Link

150720_r26752-320

An article from Kathryn Schulz of the New Yorker raises awareness of the potential for the US Pacific Northwest coast to experience a major subduction earthquake and tsunami not dissimilar to the 3.11 event in Japan.  The article, which was published last week, not only describes the potential similarities to 3.11, but the ways in which communities in the Northwest are in many ways much less prepared than those in Japan.

It also describes the collaborative detective work of how scientists came to understand the potential for an event:  Native American oral tradition, offshore core samples from the US, and historical records of a 300+ year old ‘Orphan Tsunami’ in Japan — before which no quake was felt — were pieced together to form evidence to the story we have today.

The full article can be found at the below link:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one

A Video Report from Tohoku / A Stage for All

みんなの舞台

A Stage for All – Rin Rin Popolo

MIT JAPAN 3.11 INITIATIVE

MIT JAPAN DESIGN WORKSHOP 2013

This video report, filmed by photojournalist and documentarian Jake Price, captures the spirit of collaboration in Tohoku surrounding the construction of a gathering space for local residents affected by the 3.11 triple disaster.

The video can also be found and viewed online.

Thank you to the Toshiba International Foundation for supporting this effort.

“Updates from Tohoku” Event in Boston Draws Big Crowd

The US-Japan Council’s New England Members commemorated the Great East Japan Earthquake with an inspiring night of “Updates from Tohoku & A Night of Remembrance: A Journey to a New Life,” on March 31. Hosted by the Fish Family Foundation, where Member of the USJC Board of Directors Atsuko Fish serves as a Trustee, the evening’s program offered reflection, insights and inspiration to a packed house at Boston’s Berklee College of Music.

USJC President Irene Hirano Inouye opened the program with an explanation of USJC’s work to support Tohoku, and an update on her participation in the recent 3rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai, Japan. Consul General of Boston Tsutomu Himeno offered warm greetings, with a moving reminder of the losses suffered on March 11, 2011.

Shun Kanda sharing his plan for rebuilding Tohoku

The program continued with three Tohoku updates. Council Member Shun Kanda, Director of the MIT Japan 3/11 Initiative, offered his vision for an innovative rebuilding plan that would better serve the community’s needs based on his deep engagement in the Minamisanriku community.

Council Member Anne Nishimura Morse, William and Helen Pounds Senior Curator of Japanese Art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, provided fascinating insights into artistic responses to March 11th through work she collected and curated at the museum’s new exhibit, “In the Wake: Japanese Photographers Respond to 3/11.”

USJC Friend of the Council, Megumi Ishimoto, next inspired the audience with an update on the work that the NPO she founded, Women’s Eye, has accomplished to support women in Tohoku, especially those in temporary housing. Megumi credited both the TOMODACHI NGO Leadership Program supported by J.P. Morgan, as well as the Japan Women’s Leadership Initiative supported by the Fish Family Foundation, for providing the resources to expand her NPO’s work within the community, and to launch an International Grassroots Women’s Academy in Tohoku.

Consul General Himeno & Shun Kanda

Consul General Himeno & Shun Kanda

Upcoming event for the 4th anniversary of 3.11

Today we mark the fourth anniversary of the 3.11 disaster.  To commemorate this milestone, we invite those local to Boston to attend:

2015_Tohoku_Invitation

Updates from Tohoku & A Night of Remembrance

Tuesday March 31, 2015
6pm – 8pm
The Red Room at Cafe 939

Berklee College of Music
939 Boylston Street, Boston

Free and open to the public
Register at Eventbrite.

“Updates from Tohoku, a journey to new life,” is a commemoration of the fourth anniversary of 3.11, the disaster that occurred on March 11, 2011 in the Tohoku region of Japan and affected nearly 500,000 people.

The event highlights individuals and projects working in northeastern Japan since 3.11, including our own Shun Kanda in a talk titled “Beyond 2020_nx: A Vision for the Next Generation.”  He is joined by Anne Nishimura Morse, curator of Japanese art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Megumi Ishimoto, founder and executive director of the NPO Women’s Eye.  There will also be performances by Berklee student recipients of the TOMODACHI Suntory music scholarship.

Hosted by the Consulate-General of Japan in Boston, Berklee College of Music, Fish Family Foundation, Japan Society of Boston, and the U.S.-Japan Council/TOMODACHI Initiative

Funding awarded for Japan Design Workshop

The work of the Japan 3.11 Initiative continues strongly throughout this coming summer, and organizations are recognizing the importance of this work.

The MIT Japan Design Workshop has been awarded a grant from the TOSHIBA INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION for the project Beyond 2020_nx, for continuing workshops in Tohoku and to fund a film documentary on the future form of communities in the region.

In addition, the Alfred Kunstadter Family Foundation and the American Chamber of Commerce Japan ACCJ has also awarded funding for the MIT Japan Workshop of Summer 2014, located in Rikuzen-Takata, Iwate Prefecture.

Call for applications: iUP_MIT Japan Design Workshop 2014

ANNOUNCING -

iUP_MIT Japan Design Workshop 2014

July 28th –  August 12th

See this document for additional description of this summer’s activities.

If you are interested in applying, detailed information on schedule of activities, costs, travel and accommodation may be requested by forwarding your inquiry directly to :

Shun Kanda <kanda@mit.edu> and Saya Suzuki<tktt503@gmail.com>