School of Architecture

news

Bang Dang: Picturing "Home-for-All"

Posted: April 18, 2012, 12:49 pm

Last year after the massive earthquake-tsunami brought unprecedented damage to Japan, "Abitare" magazine and Toyo Ito's office announced a joint call for ideas to the architecture community.  Over 100,000 people in Japan were moved to relief centers and temporary housing after the disaster, but this emergency habitation offered the very bare minimum in accommodations and no place for privacy.  The objective is to design a place that allows people to come and find space to decompress and reflect for short periods of time.  The entry was to be composed on one sheet of A3 paper.  

Our project is a subtle 18-foot square plan that is part interior and part exterior.  The traditional roof form references the image of the humble home that we all recognize and can find comfort and normalcy in.  An opening is cut in the center to allow natural light to enter from above.  A second-level deck allows for a meditative space washed with natural light.  A Japanese maple is planted in the front entry court.    

All 171 submissions from 22 nations worldwide were exhibited at the Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture in Imabari and the Sendai Mediatheque in Sendai.  A book was also published of all the submissions including drawings from such renowned architects as Tadao Ando, Frank Gehry, Kazuyo Sejima, Aberto Campo Baeza, Wang Shu, Steven Holl, and Junya Ishigami.  We were honored to be included in the exhibitions and the publication.  

Bang Dang 

20 March 2012

home for all

News Archives

2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006