Last week I had the honor of attending the Pritzker Prize reception in Boston, at the behest of the Prize recipient, Toyo Ito. It was a special night, and Mr. Ito's acceptance speech shared more than a few sentiments carried out in Architecture for Humanity's work.

Find out more about the evening and Mr. Ito's architectural philosophy below.

This article comes to us via Students Rebuild.

A lot of what we've been discussing on the Students Rebuild Japan blog this year lies somewhere between Recovery and Restoration of the Tohoku area. This month the City of Ishinomaki published the latest reports and plans for the region - spanning all the way to Year H32, and well into the third phase of post-disaster, Reconstruction.

Last week Hiromi and I sat down and leafed through about 70 pages of charts, numbers, maps and diagrams, big ideas, and bullet points, basking in Unfiltered Information. Well, at least I was excited. Excited to see Ishinomaki City's take on reconstruction as compared to the human-scale work I was more familiar with.

Between March 21 and April 25, design fellow Akinobu (Aki) Yoshikawa led a series of five housing seminars at our MakiBiz office in Ishinomaki. These free seminars covered a wide range of themes, geared not only for people affected by the disaster, but for anyone considering building a house.

３月２１日から４月２５日までの間に石巻市にあるまきビズで「住宅セミナーシリーズ」と題したセミナーシリーズをAFH吉川が講師として５回開催しました。行われたセミナーは被災者だけでなく、これから住宅を建てることを検討している方にも参加いただけるように多様なテーマを設けました。

On April 21st, The Society for a Design Museum Japan held a symposium to follow their first symposium, "Toward Creating a Design Museum Japan" held last November.

This time around, proposals for a future design museum were open to the public, and Architecture for Humanity Design Fellow Akinobu Yoshikawa was chosen to present his proposal at the event!

MakiBiz / Architecture for Humanity Japan Team participated in a symposium on rebuilding titled, "Miyagi Rebuilding Voice, Earthquake Disaster Rebuilding Symposium 2013, Thinking Support and Collaboration from Local Rebuilding - The Voice of Kitakami Ishinomaki." hosted by the Japan Institute of Architects (JIA) on the weekend of April 6-7th.

４月６日から７日にかけて行われた、日本建築家協会主催の震災復興シンポジウム２０１３ ～みやぎボイス　地域とずっと一緒に考える復興とまちづくり～に参加しました。

KYSIN-no-kai, the superdesignteam assembled by Toyo Ito following to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Northeast Japan, last week released a vision package for a Park For All in the recovering village of Kamaishi.

The site recently relocated. After realizing the previous location would have been neighbors with a new Pachinko casino (think the "Escape Scene" in Lost in Translation), project partners sought and found better environs. The Park for All will now accompany a cluster of temporary houses and a large temporary school in a valley away from the sea.

KYSIN-no-kai, a Kuma / Yamamoto / Sejima / Ito / Naito collaboration, has developed a park clubhouse that reflects the timber vocabulary of local schoolhouses.

Our Ishinomaki Office, MakiBiz has issued a Request for Proposal.

このたび、石巻オフィス「まきビズ」で中小企業支援公募プログラムを開始しました。

The program will support the rebuilding of small businesses and entrepreneurs who were affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake that devastated the Tohoku region two years ago.

東日本大震災で被災した中小企業等を一日も早く再建し、被災住民の雇用先を安定確保し、地域経済の再生を果たすことを目的としたものです。

Late March, the "We Are One" Market and Youth Center had an exciting visit by guests all the way from Lyon, France. The group, Silk Me Back,arrived to help with Kitakami Furusato Project, lead by Takashi Sugihara, the carpenter for "We Are One".
３月末に北上ウィーアーワンマーケット兼ユース・センターにフランスのリオンからはるばるお客様がいらっしゃいました。ウィーアーワンの建設に関わっていただいた大工の杉原隆さんが率いる北上ふるさとプロジェクトのおかげで出会った、シルク・ミー・バックという団体の代表者の方々です。

当団体の石巻にある現地オフィス「まきビズ」はこの度フェイスブックページとツイッターのアカウントを開設しました。是非ご覧ください。もちろん「いいね」してくださいね。ツイッターは@MakiBizです。

Our reconstruction center in Ishinomaki, MakiBiz, is now more connected than ever - check out their Facebook page! Don't forget to "Like" us! Follow MakiBiz on Twitter @MakiBiz.

日本人建築士伊東豊雄氏が、建築界最高の賞プリツカー賞を受賞されました。伊東氏が主宰する伊東豊雄建築設計事務所がデザインした「みんなの広場」プロジェクトに、アーキテクチャー・フォー・ヒューマニティもデザイン／建築費を支援しています。

Japanese architect, Toyo Ito, has been awarded the 2013 Pritzker Prize. The Park for All project that Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects designed, is funded and supported by Architecture for Humanity.

23 February 2013, Architecture for Humanity led the charrette with local children at "We Are One" to have them imagine and create the future Kitakami. The charrette was reported by a local newspaper on 8 March 2013. アーキテクチャー・フォー・ヒューマニティは２０１３年２月２３日に、未来の北上を想像しようと地元の子供たちに呼びかけてワークショップを行いました。２０１３年３月８日には地元の新聞にこのワークショップの様子が掲載されました。

Exactly two years have passed since the unforgettable catastrophe struck Tohoku and took away thousands of lives. We would like to send our condolences to all those affected, and those who are still waiting for their loved ones to be identified.

To commemorate this day, the Ishinomaki office held an event showcasing housing - a continuing issue for those who have lost their homes to the tsunami. We invited four architects from the "Wooden House Network (Mori-no-iezukuri-network") in Tohoku to present affordable ecological housing to override the preconception that architect-designed homes are more expensive and complicated to build than those produced by corporate housing manufacturers.

Architecture for Humanity is collaborating with local design and construction professionals to reconstruct the northern Japan region where the earthquake and tsunami hit on March 11, 2011. Any community would have been devastated by such a disaster – Japan was better prepared than most. However, it is in the event of disaster that communities need assistance in rebuilding. Through our network of local design and construction professionals we are providing technical expertise to help build back better Tohoku.

Naomi Sato introduces the We Are One market and youth center, and the impact it has already created in the community of Kitakami, two years after a devastating tsunami changed the course of many of the town's residents.

On February 24, 2013, the residents of the fishing village of Maeami-hama, on a secluded inlet on the Pacific coast of Tohoku, gathered to celebrate the opening of its new community house.

Full update at Students Rebuild

On February 23, Students Rebuild and Architecture for Humanity led a student design charrette at the recently completed "We Are One" Market and Youth Center in Kitakami. Students from grades 1-5 came spent the Saturday morning building their visions from all sorts of craft and recycled market supplies, from paints, pipe cleaners and origami paper, to bulk boxes and wood blocks left over from the center's construction.

A special guest designer from America (me) was in attendance to judge the work.

Maeami-hama Community House is mostly done and will be opening very soon! An opening ceremony is scheduled for this coming Sunday, and final inspection on Monday. See the latest pictures below.

前網浜コミュニティーハウスプロジェクトはあと数日で完成します！日曜日に開会式が予定され、月曜日には最終点検が行われます。最新工事状況の写真をレポートします。

Since March 11, 2011, contributions to the Japan Reconstruction Program have assisted in the improvement of hundreds of lives throughout the Tohoku region of Japan. MakiBiz, Architecture for Humanity’s regional support center, has assisted over 30 small business owners get back on their feet and many more people continue to need our help.

アーキテクチャー・フォー・ヒューマニティは帰心の会による「釜石みんなのひろば」にデザインと建設費の支援しこのプロジェクトにおいて協同することになりました。この支援はナイキからの義援金によってまかなわれます。

Architecture for Humanity award the design and construction grant to "Park for All in Kamaishi" submitted by KYSIN-no-kai, and work together on the project. This grant is sponsored by Nike to reconstruct a sports facility in the affected area of Tohoku.

The Kitakami "We Are One" Market and Youth Center officially opened its doors on January 23rd! With the center open, several programs have already been scheduled to take place in the new building.

北上ウィー・アー・ワン・コラボラティブは１月２３日に正式にオープンしました！既にこの建物ではたくさんのプログラムが予定されています。

The holidays are over and the Maeami-hama project is back to construction!

Check out the lastest pictures of construction progress of the Maeami-hama Community House through pictures below.

前網浜コミュニティーハウスの最新工事状況をレポートします。

Originally posted on Students Rebuild

As anticipated, the Kitakami Market was inspected on Christmas Day–and provisionally approved! (Provided, that is, that the old temporary market be removed–see below). Everyone at the inspection was very happy about the project, and Ms. Sato is especially excited to get everything moved in by the middle of the month.

Architect and owner inspection was held on a snowing Christmas afternoon. Contractor gave a thorough tour in and around the building, answering to all of the questions the owner had. The contractor was also kind enough to donate the gravel around the building at the last minute, providing a leveled clean frontage to the building perimeter.
雪の降るクリスマスの午後、建築士とオーナーによって最後の検査をしました。大工さんが建物の内外の案内をし、オーナーからの質問に答えました。大工さんのご好意により建物の周りに砂利も敷かれ、建物へのアクセスがしやすくなりました。

Check out the lastest pictures of construction progress at the Maeami-hama Community House through pictures below. Most major construction has been completed, and the project is moving along on schedule!

前網浜コミュニティーハウスの最新工事状況をレポートします。主な工事は終了し、細かい作業が行われ始めています。工事は順調に進んでいます。

MAKOTO Business Seminar
Business development seminars in Ishinomaki.

Dates: November 23, December 7, December 14, December 21, January 11, January 25, and February 1 from 18:00~19:30

Place: Architecture for Humanity Ishinomaki Office

Instructor: Tomorhiro Takei, MAKOTO

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurring off the Tohoku coast rocked the recovering area at 17:18 on Friday 12/7/2012 (Japan time). All Architecture for Humanity personnel and clients on the ground are accounted for. According to Yomiuri Newspaper, 11 people got injured, and one missing.

The tsunami warning in Miyagi prefecture is still effective at this time. Some tsunamis have been reported ranging from 20-100cm. Several smaller aftershocks were recorded as well.

Our team is visiting the coastal village of Maeami tomorrow, and will report back further on impacts after their visit.

被災地のゲームチェンジャーになりませんか？
Building for Tohoku, Are You Game?

ゲームチェンジャー｜スポーツ施設のための助成金プログラム

震災は区別も差別もなく様々なものを破壊しました。被災地にもようやく住宅や商店、集会所などが戻ってきましたが、被災地に活気を戻すためにはまだまだ必要なものがたくさんあります。そのなかで震災によりストレスがたまっても発散できるようなグランドや体育館などのスポーツ施設まであまり手が回っていない状況があります。学校の校庭も仮設住宅などで使われていて、特に子供たちが安心して遊べる場が限られているのも現状です。このような状況を打破すべく、アーキテクチャー・フォー・ヒューマニティはナイキとナイキジャパンの協同で被災地におけるスポーツ施設の設計並びに修復、再建のための助成金プログラムを立ち上げました。

The Maeami-hama Community House, is moving along quickly and smoothly. See pictures below to see the progress!

前網浜コミュニティーハウスの工事は順調に着々と進んでいます！

The end of the year is nearing.  Temperatures have dropped and snow has fallen on many parts of Tohoku.  Winter is quickly approaching.

本年も押し詰まってまいりましたが、皆様いかがお過ごしですか。気温もだいぶ下がり、東北各地で雪が降り始めました。冬の訪れを感じます。

Architecture for Humanity's Tohoku program has been busy with construction in attempt to beat the cold winter weather.  Please read updates below to see a glimpse of the work we've done in the past month.

アーキテクチャー・フォー・ヒューマニティは本格的な寒さを前に工事を手早く進めています。最新のアップデートへは下記をご覧下さい。

On November 23rd, MakiBiz opened its doors to the Ishinomaki community. Fifteen people from all walks of life gathered at the newly renovated office for the first of six MAKOTO business seminars - a series of seminars intended to promote local entrepreneurship.

11月23日、石巻にてまきビズがオープンしました。新しく修復された空間にあらゆる方々15人が集まり、第一回目のMAKOTOビジネスセミナーが開かれました。MAKOTOビジネスセミナーは地元企業を発起することを目的とした６つのセミナーです。

We have a small window of opportunity to raise extra extra funds for our Tohoku Program!

We're participating in Global Giving's special Japan Matching Campaign, where Global Giving will match 100% of all donations made through their site up to $1,000 per donor per project until funds run out. (e.g. if you donate $50, Global Giving will donate another $50 to us) This means that every donation will be doubled!

Please take this opportunity to support our efforts in helping the Tohoku region build back better!

Where?
On our Build Back Better Tohoku page!

When?
November 1, to November 30 11:59pm EST or until matching funds are depleted.

For more information on the campaign, see here.

Any amount can go a long way!

At Maeami-hama Community House, a ground-breaking ceremony was held on November 4th, and construction is now moving along smoothly.

11月4日に前網浜コミュニティーハウスで地鎮祭が行われ、工事は順調に進んでいます。

Frequent construction updates on this project can be found on KMDW (the architect of record)'s facebook page (in Japanese only). We will also be providing summarized updates from these posts here, so stay tuned!

前網浜コミュニティーハウスの施行状況を前網浜ベニヤハウスプロジェクトページよりご覧になれます。また、私たちのサイトにも施行状況を載せて行きますのでこちらもご覧下さい。

The Maeami-hama project broke ground (officially) on the morning of November 4th. Members of the Maeami community, KMDW and Architecture for Humanity attended this event.

11月4日に前網浜コミュニティーハウスで地鎮祭が行われました。このイベントには前網浜の住民の方々とKMDWとアーキテクチャー・フォー・ヒューマニティのスタッフが参加しました。

Things are moving along smoothly! Construction is progressing as scheduled, with basic electrical wiring, insulation, and exterior walls with siding mostly installed.

工事は施工業者さんや優秀な大工さんの力によって予定通り進行しています。基本的な配線工事、壁の断熱材の挿入と、外壁パネルの設置がほとんど終了しました。

Temperatures have dropped, the days are shortening, and Fall foliage is currently at its best in the Tohoku region, fully signifying Autumn.  November begins with Culture day (bunka no hi) on the 3rd, promoting culture, the arts, and academic endeavor.  Many culture related events occur this month, so take this opportunity to participate!  Later in the month is Labor Thanksgiving Day (kinro kansha no hi) on the 23rd, commemorating labor and production and giving thanks to one another.  We would like to take this opportunity to give a special thanks to everyone who has supported us in our efforts!

日ごとに寒さが増す季節となりました。少しずつ日も短くなり、冬の訪れを感じられるようになりましたが東北では今が紅葉の見頃です。11月は3日に文化の日で始まり、この時期にはたくさんの文化的行事があります。機会があれば是非参加して地域の文化を学びましょう。そして11月23日は勤労感謝の日です。私たちは皆様の支援とサポートを心から感謝しています。この機会をもってお礼申し上げます。

On October 26, design fellow Toru met with our client, Mr. Sato, and went to the site to check the state of construction. Construction of the roof has been completed, and with only a few minor fixes to make, the project is very near completion!

10月26日、デザインフェロー中木はクライアントの佐藤さんと現場に行き、工事の進行を確認しました。屋根工事完了、サッシュ搬入完了。外装、内装工事について一部修正工事が必要ですがこのプロジェクトは間もなく完成します！

October 15, the Kitakami "We Are One" market and youth center celebrated a milestone in construction: the roof laying or "topping out" ceremony. Common to construciton projects, the ceremony brings with it some rituals that have over time become staples amonst the community, and dozens gather to share with the builders and architects a pleasant afternoon. See photos and video brought to us by the Architecture for Humanity Japan team.

The Team's 7-minute video of the day provides a great sense of the people living in Kitakami. Images and screenshots after the break.

On a breezy and cold Sunday morning, Staff from KMDW (Architect of Record), local fishermen, and AFH Design fellows, joined contractors to help prepare and setup the foundation form for the concrete pour.

肌寒い日曜日の朝、KMDW（当プロジェクトの建築家）スタッフ、地元漁師、そしてAFHのデザインフェローがゼネコンと共に基礎のコンクリート流しの準備を行いました。

Originally reported on Students Rebuild Japan blog in August

Japan Program Coordinator Hiromi Tabei has just returned to San Francisco from a week-long strategy session in Sendai. While she never left Tohoku’s largest city during this trip, conversations with the Japan team and explorations around town confirmed some surprising developments along the coast. Some seem far-fetched, but to what extend do we build for the safety of our neighbors?

このプロジェクトは既存のコンクリートの基礎の上に建てられることになっています。（津波で上屋であった倉庫は流されてしまったそうです。）新しい建物を建てるために少し今ある基礎を直す必要があります。前網浜の鈴木さん、南三陸の大工さんの遠藤さんと菊池さんなどとともに、デザインフェローの中木も手伝って基礎の一部を取り壊す「はつり」と呼ばれる作業をしました。建築申請がおりると同時に工事を始めたいので、寸法だしなどの作業もはじめました。

Construction of the Kitakami "We Are One" Market and Youth Center is finally underway! Construction perimeter is set, temporary power is wired, and building corners were marked on site.

Tohoku sees frigid winters that can stop construction, well, cold. It's a reminder to us to adopt the familiar mission to "take full advantage of Summer," in a construction sense. (We'll talk more about winter projects in just a bit.)

The end of July marks the half-way point for the Tohoku construction season, and we figured we could take stock of how our collaborative rebuilding projects are helping the tsunami-stricken region recover. The four featured cast a wide net of methods, materials and the unique conditions demanding their careful consideration.

アーキテクチャー・フォー・ヒューマニティのジャパンチームは東京を拠点におくKMDWオフィスと連携して、画期的な工法を使って、宮城県石巻市前網浜に新しい集会場を建てる計画を練っています。主宰の一人である小林博人氏は慶応大学の先生でもあり、彼は学生とともに宮城県南三陸町歌津地区に被災ベニヤを使って集会場を建てました。 このプロジェクトは賞も受賞しました。

Originally reported on Students Rebuild Japan blog

"Ishi" in Japanese means "stone," and you don't have to go too far to see how closely Ishinomaki is tied to the stone upon which the city was founded 80 years ago. The tsunami has made this connection even more apparent. The streets have in recent decades been paved over with asphalt for the benefit of a comfortable commute. The powerful waters of last year's tsunami has torn some of this asphalt away - bringing daylight once more to the original stone pavers.

Originally posted on Students Rebuild Japan blog

This week (the morning of Tuesday, July 17, in Japan, or 4PM Monday in San Francisco), the Kitakami "We Are One" Market and Youth Center broke ground. Participating in the ceremony were very honorable owner of the Market, Naomi Sato, the market's architect Fumihiko Sasaki, two Shinto priests, several local contractors and members of the Architecture for Humanity Japan office (program manager Shogo, and design fellows Aki and Toru). It was an intimate affair.

The design fellows uploaded a five-minute synopsis video to YouTube, and watching it I was swiftly bewildered. I crossed the office to the "program side" and asked Hiromi to help me navigate the ceremony.

On July 2nd, RFQ (Request for Qualification) for the market and youth center was posted on the board of Kitakami municipal office. Bid documents will be handed to the qualified bidders from July 10th and bidding will be closed July 20th.

The model that was exhibited at the SAU exhibition last week was presented to the town officials. The officials seemed excited about the project and have received positive reactions from others in the room as well.

All stairs are now completed at Akahama temporary housing complex! We still need to put some finishing touch such as a solar-powered lighting on each landing, and add some landscaping around. Finally the residents can safely navigate through the complex, and perhaps have some impromptu social gatherings happening at covered landings. The final photos will be posted here soon!

The 4th annual "SAU exhibition" was held in Sendai Mediatheque from June 21st to 24th. Eight local architects including architect Fumihiko Sasaki, who is the architect on record for the Kitakami "We Are One" Market and Youth Center. Mr. Sasaki presented the Kitakami project with updated drawings and the new finished model, and answered questions to interested visitors.

At the Japan Team's exhibition booth, we presented our projects in Tohoku. On June 24th, our design fellow, Taka Saito, had a presentation in front of the large weekend crowd.

In Tohoku, many reconstruction projects are happening right now. Everybody is busy! It took Tumugiya members almost 3 months to find a contractor. We hired a contractor from Tsukuba in Ibaraki Prefecture. Then finally we broke ground on June 15, 2012, and Oshika House's construction has begun.

The spring finally arrived in Tohoku, and we're ready to resume the phase two of the Akahama Covered Alley project.

On April 28th, 2012, saw the completion of the Ohya Green Sports Park Signage project with the opening workshop/ceremony held that day. The beautiful signage by Mr. Higashi who had also worked on the bench at the field, used local slate for its roof and large beams previously used to hold the homes together for more than 200 years for its main structure. Two buoy with the Kanji "大谷" (Ohya) written on it, provides slight link to the areas coastal roots. From this day, this signage welcomes the visitors to the beautiful field.

Design meeting discussing the revised design made by the architect was held to our client at Kitakami on 4/16. Another design revision was necessary as the temporary pre-fab market on site had been set into the proposed location. Afterwards, we have visited the temporary market and site measurement was also done.Another design review meeting is expected to be held for approval next week.

Akinobu Yoshikawa may be [relatively] young (30), but he's seen a lot in his years. Before being shaken from his graduate studio in Sendai last year, Aki had been studying in New York in 2001. He lived in Kobe in 1995 through that earthquake, a big one, that inspired him to become an architect. Aki came through San Francisco for orientation last month, before moving to Tohoku as Architecture for Humanity’s newest Design Fellow, overseeing project construction at the Ohya Green soccer field (signs and wayfinding), and the Kitakami market project. Both projects are supported by donations through Students Rebuild as a result of your astounding crane-folding.

Nike's Run Together event for the Tohoku anniversary might only have lasted one day, but the scale of support and participation ensures construction will continue well into the future.

Because the event was aimed at Japanese participants, the
RUN TOGETHER website needs a little translation (see below). More than 8600 runners ran 96,000 km, or THREE TIMES the perimeter of Japan!

On March 11, 2011, a massive earthquake struck the Tohoku region of Japan, resulting in a tsunami that ravaged 550 kilometers (340 miles) of Pacific coastline. Any country would have been devastated by such a disaster – Japan was better prepared than most. However, it is in the event of disaster that communities need assistance in rebuilding. Since Day One, Architecture for Humanity has been working with local partners such as ArchiAid and AfH Tokyo Chapter, communities and local design and construction professionals to build back better Tohoku.

２０１１年３月１１日に東北地方を襲った東日本大震災は５５０キロメートル（３４０マイル）にも及ぶ海岸に大きな被害を津波により与えました。日本は世界の諸地域と比べ災害対策が整っていたとはいえ、今回の災害は、被災地はもちろんのこと、世界全体に想像を超える衝撃を与えました。アーキテクチャー・フォー・ヒューマニティ（ＡＦＨ）は、アーキエイドやＡＦＨ東京チャプターなどのパートナーや日本の建築家、建設関係者と共に、震災直後より被災した東北の復興のための活動をしています。

As the first anniversary of Japan's earthquake and tsunami approaches, Students Rebuild honors Tohoku and the progress and partnerships forged in rebuilding. We also celebrate the results of a creative collaboration that united us across 38 countries and all 50 states.

Are you in Milano this weekend? Check out the Triennale di Milano. Our funding partner, Punkt., is sponsoring a collective exhibition 'Made in Japan'. The Triennale has also invited Punkt. to participate at the exhibition itself in the a part of the exhibition dedicated to the anniversary of 3/11, environmental protection, and new and renewable energies. Punkt. is presenting the reconstruction work of Architecture for Humanity in Tohoku region. The showcase is the Akahama Covered Alley project, which has made possible because of their generous support through 'Punkt. for Japan: Still Time to Help'.

Nike Japan will host a running event - “RUN TOGETHER” - on March 11, 2012, the first anniversary of East Japan Great Earthquake. The event invites runners around Japan to unite through sport and cover 32,000 kilometers - equal to the perimeter of Japan.

Anyone who has NIKE+ can join by running. Nike will donate 500 yen (about US$6.20) for every kilometer accumulated from “Run Together” to U.S. NGO Architecture for Humanity to be used to help reconstruct the disaster-stricken area of Tohoku. Nike will cap its donation at 20,000,000 yen.

The Build Back Better Tohoku winner and our community partner, Tsumugiya, just received the concept drawings of the Oshika House from Doogs Design, the design firm in Tokyo.

「よりよい東北を」プログラムの受賞者であり、私たちのパートナーでもあるつむぎやさんが東京のデザイン会社Ｄｏｏｇｓ　Ｄｅｓｉｇｎが製作した牡鹿ハウスの構想図を送ってくださいました。

The first phase of the Akahama Covered Alley was completed on January 6, 2012. The Alley project was the second place winner of the first round of Build Back Better Tohoku, connecting hillside "temporary" residential units.
赤浜の雁木のプロジェクトの第一段階が終わりました。

Reporting by Zac Taylor for Students Rebuild

Earlier this week, I had a moment to catch up with Hiromi Tabei, Architecture for Humanity’s Program Coordinator for Japan, to talk about the status of Students Rebuild’s projects in the Tohoku region. Her recent visit with community partners throughout Tohoku offers insight on how the needs of Tohoku’s young people are inspiring our rebuilding efforts in Japan.

Seasons greetings, Rebuilders! Students from Tohoku University of Art & Design are busy putting the final touches on the Sendai Paper Crane Sculpture. The installation, to be unveiled at a public ceremony in January, is composed of over 100,000 of your paper cranes! We just received an update from the students and wanted to give you one last sneak peak before the sculpture is finished - enjoy!

The Paper Crane World Map
One key element of the sculpture is a paper crane world map. Dozens of cranes compose a series of vertical streams -- together, they represent the world of support that you gave to your Japanese peers. Here, students are assembling the streams.

Paper Crane Elements

Production of Paper Crane Sculpture is full swing! Professor Hanazawa and his students got huge help from children and their parents from Children's Art College at Tohoku University of Art and Design. Prof. Hanazawa is the director of the Research Center for Children Art Education, which Children's Art College is a part of.

折鶴オブジェの制作が、急ピッチで進められています。花澤先生と芸工大の生徒さんたちの仕事場に、東北芸術工科大学に付属している、こども芸術大学に通う子供たちと親御さんが助っ人としてやってきてくれました。花澤先生は、こども芸術大学を管轄する、こども芸術教育研究センター長でもいらっしゃいます。

Hirohisa Higashi (Haizai Live) and his colleagues working on the construction of audience seating.

廃材ライブの東さんたちが、大谷グリーンスポーツパークのフットサル場の観客席を作っています。

On Dec. 10th, kids from FC Ohya and local schools gathered to help planting turf on the ground.

１２月１０日には、ＦＣ大谷の子供たちと地元の生徒さんたちが、芝張りを手伝ってくれました。

Professor Youta Hanazawa and the students at Tohoku University of Art and Design (TUAD) received the early Christmas gift -- 100,000 paper cranes!

東北芸工大学の花澤先生と学生さんが、ちょっと早めのクリスマスプレゼントとして昨日、１０万羽の折鶴を受け取りました！

Yamagata Shimbun (Yamagata Newspaper) ran the article about our paper crane sculpture project on November 24, 2011!
１１月２４日付の山形新聞に、折鶴オブジェプロジェクトの記事が載りました。

The man on the right is Professor Hanazawa. The girl sitting next to him is Ms. Haruka Awano, the student leader. Her family's business was also affected by the tsunami, so she wanted to give children hope through this project.
右側の男性が東北芸工大の花澤先生です。先生の右側に座っている女性が、学生リーダーの粟野春香さんです。彼女の実家のかまぼこやさんも被災しましたが、このプロジェクトを通じて子供たちに希望を与えたいとのことです。

Our teams in the Tohoku region of Japan are working incredibly hard with local small business leaders to help them get back to work following the devastating tsunami. The New York Times referred to the town of Minamisanriku as the town that got left behind. To many grassroots groups like our own this town has not been forgotten, it is rising.

With support from PACT, PechaKucha Inspire Japan initiative and Live 4 Sendai, a concert with Imogen Heap and friends, will go towards rebuilding a rest-house and social business for the fishermen of Minamisanriku

Spread the word: http://youtu.be/GaTPcvHRrGE

慎重に選考を重ねた結果、「ＯＳＨＩＫＡ　ＨＯＵＳＥ～牡鹿半島鮎川浜、漁協女性部のための作業・コミュニティスペース作り～」を最優秀賞として、「赤浜地区にある仮設住宅の雁木で育てる小さなコミュニティ」を次点として採用されることになりました。おめでとうございます。

After the deep deliberation, we have reached our decision to award the first prize to "OSHIKA HOUSE", and the second prize to "Akahama Covered Arcade". Congratulations!

After having a few bumps along the way, we finally had the ground breaking at Ooya Green Sports Park on November 5, 2011! According to the Japanese tradition, we put young bamboos at four corners, and connect them with a rope called shimenawa with white paper called shide to mark the sacred ground. Then people put offering such as fruits, vegetables, fish, and sake (rice wine) for the god of the land, Ujigami. The Shinto priest asks for forgiveness of the god for disturbing the ground, and prays for the safety during the construction. Check out the video of the entire Japanese ground breaking ceremony! (Be warned. It is 12 minutes long.)

Professor Hanazawa and his students at TUAD just sent us a couple of pictures that they took when the first box of paper cranes arrived from the United States. They just went in and start thinking about what they can make with these beautiful paper cranes that were folded by children all over the world!

東北芸工大学の花澤先生とゼミ生のところに、折鶴の入った箱の第一陣がアメリカより届きました。早速箱を開けて、世界中の子供たちが折った美しい折鶴を実際に手にとって、何が作れるかみんなで考え始めました。

Students checking these beautiful paper cranes and getting inspired!
丁寧に折られた折鶴たちを手にとって、さて、何を作ろう？

All government permits for the Ooya Green Sports Park have been approved! Now we're good to go for the construction. Check out some pictures of Tomoro's handsome model of the Sports Park, too!

役所に出した農転書類のすべてが受領されました。これでいよいよ着工です。建築士会田さんが作った模型の写真は、こちらでご覧になれます。

Thank you for submitting to Build Back Better Tohoku. We received many inspiring proposals. Now the door is closed. We'll review and announce the winner(s) soon, so stay tuned!

「よりよい東北を」へ提案書を提出していただき、どうもありがとうございました。とても多くの興味をそそる企画書を受け取りました。受付はすでに終了しました。これから一つ一つ審査をし、受賞者を決めますのでお楽しみに。

The Sendai Mediatheque might be the most famous contemporary building in the northern half of Honshu known as Tohoku. The building is–along with its architect Toyo Ito–admired by designers and engineers around the world. A popular local tourist destination, the Mediatheque serves the one million residents of Sendai as a powerful community resource. In it, Ito has employed an innovative and elegant structural system that flows between its six floors of playfully reimagined library space. In August the building was only half open to the public.

Kumiko Fujiwara, the head director at Supporting Organization for Artists of Tohoku (SOAT) found the site for the paper crane sculpture. It is going to be at the ground floor of Sendai Station.

東北の造形作家を支援する会で理事をやっていらっしゃる藤原久美子さんが、折鶴オブジェの設置場所を確保してくれました。仙台駅のエスパル・スクエアです。

Yota Hanazawa, the professor at Tohoku University of Art and Design (TUAD) and his assistant Koji Sakuta came up with the conceptual design of the installation.

そして、東北芸工大学の花澤洋太先生と作田弘治先生が、このようなイメージ画も作ってくださいました。

Nakamura-san (owner), Satoshi-kun (designer) and Hoshi-san (contractor) met at e5star, and the first site meeting on September 16th. They discussed how to proceed from here, and Hoshi-san field measured the future workshop area. For the next step, Nakamura-san will explain the whole process of wetsuits making, so that Satoshi and Hoshi-san will understand what kind of functionality and efficiency are needed in the workshop.

９月１６日に、オーナーの中村さん、デザイナーのさとしくん、そして大工の星さんが最初の現場でのミーティングを開きました。これからのことと、測量を行ないました。さとしくんと星さんが、ウエットスーツを作る工程を大まかに理解できるように、中村さんが資料を集めることになりました。それを理解したうえで、使い勝手のよい工房ができるようになるわけですね。

「よりよい東北を」プログラムの締め切りまであと２週間です。９月３０日までに、企画提案書をここに出してください。


Build Back Better Tohoku deadline is in two weeks. Submit your idea here by September 30, 2011!

We are in the middle of the Japanese bureaucratic process right now, and it is holding our sports park project to move forward. However, we must follow the rules, and we need to be patient. As soon as we get a green light from the city and prefecture, we are good to go!

Meanwhile, our boring subcontractor, Sanriku Boring, did amazing job clearing the notorious weeds from the site. It only took a couple of days to finish! We are very fortunate to have such enthusiastic group of people in our team. We are hoping students will now step up to take care of their own sports park.

The Maeami-hama Reconstruction Team and Architecture for Humanity had a meeting to discuss what we can do to help Maeami-hama to become an environmentally and economically sustainable fishing village.

Architecture for Humanity presented about a half dozen design options that drawn by university students in New Zealand while Cameron Sinclair was leading the workshop a few weeks prior. All fishermen listened to the presentation very carefully. They seemed to be surprised to see very contemporary and unconventional buildings at first, but they understood when we explained each concept of design.

We expect more bumps ahead because fishermen need to come to consensus about their own future. However, we will rebuild it together!

Last night our team members Hiromi Tabei and Autumn Ness spoke on our work and our progress in Northern Japan during PechaKucha Sendai. At the end of the presentation they were joined by long time support and PechaKucha co-founder Mark Dytham to explain how the event had raised funds for our reconstruction efforts. Stop reading and check out the video!

Our Japan Design Fellow at San Francisco, Hiromi Tabei, got a tour of the future e5star Wetsuit Workshop site by the owner, Yutaka Nakamura. The site is not big, however it is a big step forward for Nakamura-san after he lost everything including his house and workshop for the tsunami on March 11, 2011.

Nakamura-san told Hiromi that he does not want to make his business any bigger than it used to be, because he enjoyed making each custom-made wetsuits by his hands. He wants his new workshop to be functional but also funky. He suggested to incorporate some Japanese traditional interior as well as exterior. Satoshi Suzuki, the designer for this project and also a surfer himself, was excited to create a workshop with unusual elements.

After 4 months since the East Japan Great Earthquake, Hikado Marketplace turned into a beer garden to celebrate the opening of the community deck! Higashi-san, "the creative guy with the masterplan" from Haizai Live (the company salvaged building materials and turned them into this beautiful covered deck), says "Everybody is excited to have this community deck. This marketplace is going to become the new hub of this neighborhood. We're going to help each other to rebuild our community."

Check out the festivity with great music that they had in Motoyoshi!

See project update on Open Architecture Network

Despite of the rainy season, the construction of the deck at the Hikado Marketplace has finished! Now the villagers started to plan their annual summer festival in August at this beautiful deck! Thank you, the community leaders and our hard-working carpenters, to make this happen.

Together, Architecture for Humanity and Molo Design inspired hundreds of visitors at the recent Dwell on Design conference in Los Angeles, California to add their hopes and dreams to a wishing wall in exchange for paper cranes folded through Students Rebuild. The idea behind Molo's "wishing wall" was inspired by the Students Rebuild and DoSomething.org’s Paper Cranes for Japan initiative.

Rise for Japan is a group of New York-based designers and creatives who came together to build a fundraising campaign to help those affected by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. In partnership with Architecture for Humanity and Milton Glaser, designer of the “I ♥ NY” logo, Rise For Japan produced a limited edition “Rise for Japan” poster to support rebuilding efforts in Japan. Each poster is unique and an instant collection item, printed on a letterpress in New York, on fine handmade Japanese paper and limited to a hand numbered edition of 500. The campaign just launched sales this weekend and has the goal of raising $50,000 for Architecture for Humanity's program in Tohoku.

The thud of the heartbeat could be heard over the din of the chatter. Bah-boom, bah-boom...that was the sound projected from a loudspeaker which led the artist SASAKI's spray paint can in waves across the canvas. A subject's finger was attached to a heartbeat monitor and their pulse is what inspired SASAKI's Heartbeat Drawing project - a series of hexagons on a canvas that represented thousands of heartbeats in support of rebuilding in Tohoku, Japan.

The roof at the Hikado Marketplace is up! Check here for the beautiful column with lots of amazing details.

Where is he now? As of his most recent post, Architecture for Humanity supporter Robert Nealan is passing through some pretty flat country and unpredictable weather patterns in South Dakota - about half-way through his cross-country cycling adventure to support Architecture for Humanity's rebuilding efforts in Tohoku, Japan.

An architecture student at California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo, Robert decided that rather than doing the ride for himself, he'd do it for humanity. Thus, his blog was born, "Ride for Humanity", which tracks his progress from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco. Follow his adventures, trials and tribulations as he rolls across the country, mile by mile, to help the people hit by the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The construction of the deck at Hikado Marketplace has started. We have many talented carpenters on site working for this great project. We can't wait to see everything comes together!

In a few weeks, a covered wooden deck made of salvaged timber from tsunami will be built at the location in the picture. This will become the center of the future community market, where people can hang out with a cup of tea or a glass of beer, and relax after a long day of work. Some local businesses lost their storefront by the tsunami have already signed up for spots at the future market.

With our partnership with Nike and a generous local farmer/youth soccer coach who donated his land, we provide local students who lost their school yards for temporary housing units to play safely. We are hoping to see children kicking soccer balls soon -- just in time for their summer vacation!

Video from Maeami, Japan

Video from Motoyoshi, Japan with surfer fishermen community.

Architecture for Humanity Sendai team member Autumn Ness discusses black pine tree forest shallow root system created a negative effect in the protection of housing and the need for deep rooted native forests as a protective mechanism.