The Living with Disaster Exhibition showcases “Regenerative Urbanism”, a new anticipatory and combinatory approach to urban design that demonstrates the possibility of symbioses between humans and the natural and constructed worlds courageously embracing inevitable disaster cycles. The exhibition and relative symposium are the culmination of three years of speculative design and research by the participants of ArcDR3, the “Architecture and Urban Design for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience” global initiative.

Importantly, the proposals are not reactionary or defensive planning strategies; rather, they courageously embrace inevitable disaster cycles through anticipatory techniques, and they demonstrate the possibility of new symbioses between humans and the natural and constructed worlds. In doing so, each proposal forms a part of a globally scaled mosaic of Regenerative Urbanism, framing renewed possibilities for ecological and sociological ethics to ensure that we not only survive, but thrive both with and despite threats of disaster.

Four components compose the exhibition: Octagon, Wall, Cloud, and Well. Eight wells will provide visitors with an immersive physical, video, and audio experience of the stories of Tohoku and the Seven Regenerative Cities. The visitor’s experience will transverse imagery, data and urban proposals to explore possible scenarios of living with disasters, while examining a global perspective on the future of urban environments.

The Octagon describes the activities of the ArcDR3 Initiative. The Wall, displaying the Manifestation of Regenerative Urbanism responds to question: What can we do to nurture a culture of living with disasters and build a city that is resilient and regenerative? The Cloud covers the exhibition hall with images and data describing the necessity to coexisting with risks. What would a regenerative city look like where people can live with disasters as part of their daily lives? The Wells contain seven stories exploring what a regenerative city could look like. Diverse proposals from eleven participating universities have been organized into seven hypothetical regenerative cities. By looking into the Wells, visitors can visualize each city through plans, perspectives, and interviews discussing the concepts.

Web Links

ArcDR3 Initiative

Exhibition Website

Project Data

Title: ArcDR3

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Size: 6,000 sq. ft.

Use: Exhibition

Client(s): Mitsui Fudosan, xLAB

Status: Exhibited April 9-24, 2022

Photography: © Eiji Ina

Project Credits

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)

Special Sponsor

Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd.

Executive Producer / Concept Planning and Exhibition Design

Hitoshi ABE / Professor at UCLA, Director of 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.

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

Yuka KATO

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)