Shun Kanda and Matthew Bunza speak at Columbia University / Barnard College in New York

Posted on 24 April 2013 by admin

On the 2nd anniversary of the Great Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, MIT Japan 3.11 Initiative director Shun Kanda, along with Matthew Bunza (Lecturer in Architecture at MIT) took part in a symposium at Columbia University / Barnard College entitled, “The Great East Japan Earthquake: Creative Responses & Social Imagination.”

Great East Japan Earthquake March 10, 2013 Symposium, Part 2 of 8 – Matthew Bunza & Shun Kanda (MIT) – YouTube

Alongside other speakers such as Chim↑Pom, Jake Price, Shimpei Takeda, Yuhei Suzuki, Alisa Prager, Kirsten Homma, Susan J. Onuma, Dr. Robert Yanagisawa, and Dr. Shunichi Homma; the symposium highlighting the diverse ongoing efforts of the respective speakers, asked questions about role of creative response, and reminded us all of the enormity of the work still left to be done in Tohoku.

Special thanks to Daiyu Suzuki, Nat Andreini, and the Consortium for Japan Relief for making the event possible.

More info can be found at:

About the Symposium | NYJAPAN311 | Consortium for Japan Relief

Event at MIT: BEYOND 3.11 on Thursday 3/14 at 6pm

Posted on 5 March 2013 by admin

Please join MIT graduate and undergraduate students and the Japanese Society of Undergraduates (JSU) for a talk and reception at MIT to hear updates from Tohoku as we observe the 2nd anniversary of the 2010 earthquake and tsunami.

When: 6:00 pm on Thursday, March 14, 2013
Where: MIT Student Center Room 407 (Building W20)
Open to the general public
RSVP: Link (http://goo.gl/DeTUJ) or Facebook page
(Space is limited, so please RSVP)

Speakers:

Richard J. Samuels, Ford International Professor of Political Science; Director of the Center for International Studies, MIT
Shun Kanda, Senior Lecturer, Department of Architecture; Director, MIT Japan 3.11 Initiative
Mio Yamamoto, Co-Founder and Director of World in Asia; Class of 2013, MIT Sloan School of Management

Topics:
“Using 3.11 for Policy Change” by Richard J. Samuels

Japanese political entrepreneurs used the catastrophe in Tohoku to nudge national policy in their preferred direction by constructing narratives and assigning blame for 3.11. Battles among competing perspectives on change and contested appeals to leadership, community, and risk have defined post-3.11 politics and public policy in Japan, particularly in the areas of national security, energy policy, and local governance.

“BEYOND 3.11″ by Shun Kanda

3 INSIGHTs_Toward Disaster-Resilient & Sustainable Futures for Minamisanriku; a report on the on-going work by the US and Japan-based MIT 3.11 Initiative team as we apprise our assistance continuing into the third year of recovery in Tohoku.

“Social Innovation from Tohoku” by Mio Yamamoto

How social entrepreneurs are addressing pressing social problems such as education, job creation, healthcare in Touhoku in collaboration with the private and public sectors.

For more information, contact: Mio Yamamoto, mioy AT mit DOT edu

Shun Kanda speaks at Nikkei BP Smart City Week 21 Symposium

Posted on 30 November 2012 by admin

Shun Kanda, MIT Japan 3/11 Initiative Director, delivered a talk at the Nikkei BP Smart City Week 21 Symposium in Yokohama, Japan on October 30th, 2012.

For more information:

http://expo.nikkeibp.co.jp/scw/2012/conference/international/k1.shtml

‘Power of People’ looks to Minami-Sanriku’s future

Posted on 27 August 2012 by admin

Shun Kanda recently gave a lecture at MIT to a group of students from Tohoku entitled “Power of Place, of People, as One.” He showcased the recently completed Garden Pavilione in Baba-Nakayama and the community-driven initiatives that have developed in the wake of 3/11. Also featured were creative ideas and new typologies for the future of coastal towns in Tohoku as they move to higher ground.

The students are all survivors of the 3/11 disaster who have joined the non-profit organization, Beyond Tomorrow. They are visiting the US to obtain first-hand accounts from leaders in New Orleans, New York, and Washington D.C. Their Boston visit was sponsored by the Fish Family Foundation.

A similar lecture was also given at University of Tokyo on July 29th, at the start of the Japan 3/11 Design Workshop.

The little garden pavilione at Baba-Nakayama temporary housing 2012/04/28-2012/05/06

Posted on 23 May 2012 by admin

Garden Pavilione at Baba-Nakayama

Temporary Housing site in Minamisanriku.

Constructed: Golden Week May 2012 by Dream Team_3

仮設住宅地の間にあるこの場所で。

完成後をイメージしながら、建物の位置を決め、基礎を並べる。

建設のための素材には、それぞれ物語りがある。この庭石もそのひとつ。

その記憶をもった貴重な庭石をいただくことができ、私たちは、それをこの場の象徴的な場に設置した。この大きくて、大切な石をみんなで運び、みんなで設置した。

切り出した木材を仮組みしている様子

約1週間の建設期間に、様々な人に協力していただいた。この日は、多くの学生が集まってくれた。

庭木もいただいたもの。

落成式には素晴らしい詩を披露していただいた。

中の様子。瓦、飛石、竹、縄のれん・・・それぞれの素材が調和している。

地元の方の、力強いメッセージ。

落成式後、地元の方々と談笑を楽しむ様子

建設メンバーで、完成を祝う様子

とても素敵な笑顔をみせてくれた、地元の方々

縄のれん越しに見える、憩いの風景。

Fall 2011 MIT ACT lecture now online

Posted on 13 April 2012 by admin

We now have the opportunity to view online Shun Kanda and Jim Wescoat’s November lecture on the Japan 3/11 Initiative and the “Beauty of Place” in the reconstruction process.

The professors had spoken as part of the Fall 2011 “Zones of Emergency” lecture series, hosted by the MIT Art, Culture and Technology (ACT) Program.

Students present gifts in Minami-Sanriku

Posted on 11 April 2012 by admin

: MIT DUSP student Samira Thomas and MIT ACT Professor Jegan Vincent de Paul with students in Minami-Sanriku.

In the last week of March 2012, a small group of students from the MIT ACT class ‘Artistic Intervention: Creative Responses to Conflict and Crisis,’ taught by Jegan Vincent de Paul, visited Minami-Sanriku over their spring break to present gifts to the people there. The gifts were conceived and designed by students this past Fall. The gift called “There is a village” was given to a group of 10 primary school-age children on Thursday March 29th in the town of Minami Sanriku. It was given at a children’s care center located within a temporary housing area in the town. It was given by MIT ACT Prof. Jegan Vincent de Paul, Samira Thomas (an MIT student) and Professor Yoshihiro Hiraoka from Miyagi University in Japan. The second gift titled “A Ritual for Memory” was received by Prof. Yoshihiro Hiraoka and will be given to a junior high school class when they return to school from spring break this month. The giving was facilitated by Prof. Shun Kanda of MIT and Prof. Yoshihiro Hiraoka of Miyagi University, who are both Collaborating Directors of the MIT Japan 3/11 Initiative.

Event / For Those Within From Those Abroad: A Gift for Minami Sanriku

Posted on 1 December 2011 by admin

For Those Within From Those Abroad is a public presentation of works created during this Fall’s class Artistic Intervention: Creative Responses to Conflict and Crisis, within MIT’s Arts, Culture + Technology program. Two group projects on view explore the notion of a gift as a way of responding to situations of conflict and crises from afar. The students specifically address the people of Minami Sanriku that were severely affected by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in the Tohoku region of Japan.

The event will take place in E15-001 (The Cube of the old Media Lab) on December 5 between 7 and 9 pm to see the gifts produced and the context behind them.

Artistic Intervention: Creative Responses to Conflict and Crisis is co-taught
this fall by Initiative collaborators Associate Professor and Program Head Ute Meta Bauer with Lecturer Jegan Vincent de Paul. Continue reading →

MIT Japan 3/11 Initiative

Disaster-Resilient Planning, Design + Reconstruction

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