Sendai Workshop with Igarashi Laboratory at the Sendai School of Design, Tohoku University
Sendai Workshop
University of Queensland Master of Architecture students participated in a two-day workshop with students from Igarashi Laboratory at the Sendai School of Design, Tohoku University. The workshop aimed to compare the city structure and urban fabric of Sendai and Brisbane through an investigation of film and literature. The source of the investigation was the movie Golden Slumbers, a 2010 dramatic thriller filmed in Sendai and the novel it was based on, Remote Control by Sendai crime writer Kotaro Isaka. The story is set in a near-future Sendai, and follows the struggles of an unemployed man who is framed for the assassination of the Japanese president.
The workshop task involved visiting places where scenes in the movie were shot, in order to gain a better understanding of their spatial qualities, as well as their location within the Sendai city fabric.
Figure 1: Visiting scenes shot in the movie - Manga cafe Source: Motomichi Kunugiza, 2013
Figure 2: Workshop presentation Source: Laura Cavalli, 2013
Following the site visits, students considered places that evoked similar qualities of space within Brisbane and similarly investigated their location as well as function or role within the city. The comparison of these places started to reveal similarities and differences between the cities of Sendai and Brisbane in terms of their city structure, urban fabric and their underlying culture and society. Observing places in text, film and then in real life started to uncover themes of framing and portrayal in literature and film and how they affect or change one’s understanding of the city. The findings from the workshop were featured in the latest Igarashi Laboratory magazine S-meme volume 7[1].
Whilst participating in the workshop, the overarching intentions of the workshop and how they related to Igarashi Laboratory’s wider research themes were not entirely clear. A further investigation into Professor Taro Igarashi and his influence on the Laboratory revealed a greater understanding of these intentions.
Igarashi Laboratory + Taro Igarashi
Igarashi Laboratory is an urban and architectural design theory laboratory at Tohoku University’s Sendai School of Design. Sendai School of Design was established by the urban planning and architecture departments of the university in 2010 and has a strong focus on providing education that encourages engagement between students and the local community[2]. Igarashi Laboratory aims to explore the social and cultural influences and the architectural theories behind the design of buildings and cities[3].
Figure 3: Key themes of Igarashi Laboratory Source: Igarashi Laboratory, “Taro Igarashi Laboratory,” last updated 2013, http://www.archi.tohoku.ac.jp/labs-pages/design/at/index.html.
Igarashi Laboratory is led by Professor Taro Igarashi and Assistant Professor Ayano Toki. Taro Igarashi is an architectural historian, theorist and critic and has been published on a wide variety of themes, including architectural criticism, the role of art, film and media in architecture as well as architects and their roles in disaster response and recovery. He is highly influential and respected in the Sendai and wider Japanese architectural community, even described by UCLA as the “most influential Japanese architecture and art critic of this time”[4].
Igarashi has been actively involved in the curation of art and architecture exhibitions throughout Japan and was appointed as the commissioner / curator of the Japanese Pavilion at the 2008 Venice Biennale, designed by architect Junya Ishigami[5]. He was also the creative director of the 2013 Aichi Triennale – Awakening: Where are we standing? Earth, Memory and Resurrection – a contemporary and performing arts exhibition exploring Japan’s identity and direction following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake (3.11) and tsunami that devastated the Tohoku region in March 2011[6].
Another theme in Igarashi’s work is the role of architects in disaster recovery response and redevelopment, particularly of the Tohoku region following 3.11. Igarashi is a founding member of ArchiAid, an interdisciplinary network of educators, architects and universities to assist in the redevelopment of the Tohoku region following 3.11[7]. He also curated a travelling exhibition in the year following 3.11 - How Did Architects Respond Immediately after 3/11 The Great East Japan Earthquake? - a series of response and restoration projects by architects following 3.11. This exhibition involved a collaboration of emergency response, temporary housing and reconstruction project strategies and projects from Japanese and international architects as well as architecture laboratories and students[8].
Figure 4: Exhibition held at temporary annex building at Sendai School of Design, Tohoku University Source: Taro Igarashi, "Inspirations from the Exhibition "How Did Architects Respond Immediately after 3/11 - The Great East Japan Earthquake," last updated July 2012, http://www.wochikochi.jp/english/special/2012/07/architect311.php.
Igarashi’s involvement with the local community following 3.11 provided his laboratory with an opportunity to be involved in the community consultation, design and construction stages of an assembly hall at the Minamisoma temporary housing site[9]. Students were able to work alongside local artist Naoyoshi Hikosaka as well as design workshop Haryu Wood Studio in the development of the project. This project allowed Igarashi and his laboratory to explore themes of memory and remembrance following a natural disaster, taking a more cultural and community based response in the design.
Figure 5: Assembly hall and tower at Minamisoma temporary housing site Source: Luisa Selo, 2013
Igarashi’s historian and theorist background has further influenced the development of a media and publication branch to the architectural design and research laboratory, focusing on the role of paper media in conveying information in a digital age. The laboratory has a strong printing and publication emphasis and produces a magazine “S-meme” every semester on a different topic. These topics are generally influenced by Igarashi’s interest and publications in art, culture and film, the identity and culture of the city as well as disaster recovery and redevelopment or a combination of the above themes[10].
Previous S-meme themes have included the following:
S-meme volume 1 (2010 Fall) How the medium of paper can function in the era of the web
S-meme volume 2 (2011 Spring) Cultural damage following 3.11
S-meme volume 3 (2011 Fall) Earthquake and shopping
S-meme volume 4 (2012 Spring) Regional contemporary art
S-meme volume 5 (2012 Fall) Tourism and art of regional cities
S-meme volume 6 (2013 Spring) Theatre and live performance
Figure 6: S-meme publications
Source: Sendai School of Design, “Sendai School of Design,” last updated 2014, http://sendaischoolofdesign.jp/archives/category/general; Igarashi Laboratory, S-meme vol.7, Sendai: Taro Igarashi Laboratory, 2014.
The most recent S-meme volume 7 explores Sendai literature and film and its influence in the portrayal of the city. It is designed as a reversible two-faced book, with a ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ surface. Its ‘accordion’ type shape allows it to be manipulated into a variety of shapes. The unique design of the publications themselves explore how the experience of reading or interacting with a publication can contribute to the publication itself[11].
Figure 7: S-meme volume 7 (2013 Fall) Sendai literature and film and its influence in the portrayal of the city Source: Sendai School of Design, “Sendai School of Design,” last updated 2014, http://sendaischoolofdesign.jp/archives/category/general; Igarashi Laboratory, S-meme vol.7, Sendai: Taro Igarashi Laboratory, 2014.
Retrospective
Research into Taro Igarashi and Igarashi Laboratory has provided more perspective into the context of Sendai Workshop within Igarashi Laboratory as well as the overarching intentions of the laboratory. It is clear that Taro Igarashi’s research themes and collaborations, as an architectural historian and theorist rather than practicing architect or educator, have to some extent, influenced the direction and flavour of the laboratory and at a larger scale, the Sendai School of Design.
In particular, Igarashi’s collaborations and involvement with contemporary artists, art and architecture exhibitions and disaster redevelopment and recovery and have provided his students with a unique, diverse and interdisciplinary education in architectural research. The laboratory is consistently involved in his the curation of his exhibitions well as the production of publications of his own work, as a supplement to their main research. The laboratory also actively participates in ArchiAid’s studios, summer camps and workshops. The vertically streamed nature of the laboratory further creates opportunities for interaction and collaborative learning between undergraduate, postgraduate, doctorate and research students, as well as the local community and industry[13].
On a larger scale, Igarashi’s involvement with ArchiAid has influenced the direction of the Sendai School of Design in disaster recovery and redevelopment. It is unrealistic to assume that Igarashi’s influence solely dictated the direction of the laboratory and school in its active involvement and interest in disaster recovery, given the first hand devastation that Tohoku University suffered (a temporary annex building currently houses the Sendai School of Design). However, Igarashi’s involvement with ArchiAid has influenced the development of the Sendai Design League, lead by Tohoku University, a collaboration of architectural departments of local universities which work alongside ArchiAid in organising studios, summer camps and workshops alongside partnerships including Architecture for Humanity[14].
Taro Igarashi’s influence on the laboratory will continue to provide a unique perspective to architectural design and research at the Sendai School of Design. The diverse themes explored in the laboratory and the School reflect the Sendai and Tohoku context within which it exists but also is typically innovative and diverse of Japanese architectural education. The opportunity to participate in the workshop alongside such a unique laboratory was invaluable and beneficial to our architectural education.
[1] Sendai School of Design, “Sendai School of Design,” last updated 2014, http://sendaischoolofdesign.jp/archives/category/general.
[2] ArchiAid, “On the Sendai Design League,” last updated 2011, http://27.34.158.18/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/en_sdl1.pdf.
[3] Igarashi Laboratory, “Taro Igarashi Laboratory,” last updated 2013, http://www.archi.tohoku.ac.jp/labs-pages/design/at/index.html.
[4] Taro Igarashi, The Great East Japan Earthquake Have Altered Japanese Architecture, SPACE Magazine No. 537, 2012; Taro Igarashi, “A.UD Lecture Series 2011-2012: Taro Igarashi,” filmed May 2012, Youtube video, posted September 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfCI68lLZvk.
[5] Andrea Chin, “Venice Architecture Biennale 08: Japanese Pavilion,” last updated 2008, http://www.designboom.com/architecture/venice-architecture-biennale-08-japanese-pavilion/.
[6] Edan Corkill. “Director Igarashi says quake memories still fresh,” last updated August 2013, http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/08/22/arts/director-igarashi-says-quake-memories-still-fresh/#.U1tI7K2SxNJ.
[7] ArchiAid, “An Appeal for Participation in Archi-Aid, an Architects’ Network to Support Reconstruction Following the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami,” last updated April 2011, http://archiaid.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/en-Aarchiaid.pdf; IFLA News Brief, “ArchiAid: Rethinking-Reconstruction,” last updated October 2013, http://iflanewsbrief.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/archiaid-rethinking-reconstruction/.
[8] Taro Igarashi, “Inspirations from the Exhibition “How Did Architects Respond Immediately after 3/11 – The Great East Japan Earthquake,” last updated July 2012, http://www.wochikochi.jp/english/special/2012/07/architect311.php.
[9] Taro Igarashi, “Architecture Beyond Time and Space,” Wooden Temporary Housing Group: Architecture from 3.11, Tokyo: Pot Pub Co. Ltd., 2011; Taro Igarashi, The Great East Japan Earthquake Have Altered Japanese Architecture, SPACE Magazine No. 537, 2012.
[10] Sendai School of Design, “Sendai School of Design,” last updated 2014, http://sendaischoolofdesign.jp/archives/category/general.
[11] Sendai School of Design. “Sendai School of Design,” last updated 2014, http://sendaischoolofdesign.jp/archives/category/general.
[12] Note: themes have been translated from Japanese and may contain slight inaccuracies
[13] Igarashi Laboratory, “Taro Igarashi Laboratory,” last updated 2013, http://www.archi.tohoku.ac.jp/labs-pages/design/at/index.html.
[14] ArchiAid, “On the Sendai Design League,” last updated 2011, http://27.34.158.18/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/en_sdl1.pdf
