Designing with Disaster

Designing with Disaster is the second iteration of the Living with Disaster exhibition, which took place in Tokyo in 2022. Designing with Disaster brings the content to Los Angeles to be displayed in a new context and is accompanied by events and symposia.

The JAPAN HOUSE Designing with Disaster on Jan. 25, 2023, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Brian Feinzimer/JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles)

The exhibition Designing with Disaster introduces the concept of “Regenerative Urbanism” – an anticipatory approach to urban design that explores the optimistic possibility of symbioses between humans and the natural and constructed worlds, embracing inevitable disasters and creating disaster-resilient environments.

The JAPAN HOUSE Designing with Disaster on Jan. 25, 2023, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Brian Feinzimer/JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles)

In response to the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, the United Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction was held in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture, the closest major city to the earthquake’s epicenter in the Tohoku region. This conference drafted the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 which outlined targets and priorities for action to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risks worldwide. Based on the Sendai Framework, UCLA xLAB (University of California, Los Angeles) and Tohoku University’s IRIDeS (International Research Institute of Disaster Science) collaborated with 11 Pacific Rim universities on a new initiative named ArcDR3 (Architecture and Urban Design for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience). Design studios linked to research at each university have been exploring ways to respond to disasters and build new disaster-resilient environments around the world. This exhibition presents exciting proposals for Seven Regenerative Cities inspired by that exploration.

The JAPAN HOUSE Designing with Disaster on Jan. 25, 2023, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Brian Feinzimer/JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles)
The JAPAN HOUSE Designing with Disaster on Jan. 25, 2023, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Brian Feinzimer/JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles)

Presented by

JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles

Organizers

xLAB, University of California, Los Angeles [UCLA]

International Research Institute of Disaster Science [IRIDeS], Tohoku University

ArcDR3 Exhibition Executive Committee

Cooperation

Association of Pacific Rim Universities [APRU]

UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design

UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies

UCLA International Institute

ArcDR3 Initiative

National Cheng Kung University (Taiwan)

National University of Singapore (Singapore)

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (Chile)

The University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

The University of Melbourne (Australia)

The University of Tokyo (Japan)

Tohoku University (Japan)

Tsinghua University (China)

University of California Berkeley [UC Berkeley] (US)

University of California, Los Angeles [UCLA] (US)

University of Washington (US)

Supporting Sponsor

Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd.

Executive Producer and Concept Design

Hitoshi Abe / Professor at UCLA, Director of UCLA xLAB

Producer

Shinobu Nakanishi / IDEAL COOP Inc.

Curator Team

Mohamed Sharif / Associate Professor at UCLA

Carlo Sturken / Curator, UCLA xLAB

Yelena Pozdnyakova / Assistant Scenario Director

Tohru Horiguchi / Associate Professor at Kindai University, Faculty of Architecture

Akihiro Shibayama / Associate Professor at IRIDeS (Tohoku University)

Masashige Motoe / Associate Professor at Tohoku University, Graduate School of Engineering Department

Elizabeth Maly / Associate Professor at IRIDeS (Tohoku University)

Mao Imaizumi / Does Inc.

YoungJa Park / Office PARK Inc.

Exhibition Design

Hitoshi Abe, Josh Nelson / ATELIER HITOSHI ABE

Carlo Sturken / UCLA xLAB

Project Supervisor / Archival Materials

Fumihiko Imamura / Director and Professor at IRIDeS (Tohoku University)

Project Cooperation

Toshikazu Ishida / Professor at Tohoku University, Graduate School of Engineering Department

Yasuaki Onoda / Professor at Tohoku University, Graduate School of Engineering Department

Osamu Murao / Professor at IRIDeS (Tohoku University)

Exhibition Scenario Director

Takenori Miyamoto / Curator

Production Director

Yoshikazu Inui / BOCTOK Inc.

Hitoshi Takahashi / CROSSCO Co., Ltd.

Creative Director

ujidesign

Video Director [Wall]

Satoru Higa / BACKSPACE Production Inc.

Video Director [Cloud＋Well]

Akio Okamoto / Ney-Anton G.K.

Technical Director

Hiroshi Kanechiku

Installation

HIGURE 17-15 cas Co., Ltd.

Narration

Elizabeth Ficocelli

Music

Hakobune

Research Cooperation

Yoshibumi Yanai / Assistant professor at Tohoku University, Graduate School of Engineering Department

Earth Data Cooperation

National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan)

Special Thanks

Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd.

Photography

c JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles