POSTCRISIS RECONSTRUCTION AGENCY
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HIGASHIMATSUSHIMA
震 災 復 興 機 関
HANNAH LUCY WOOD 140030 POLITICAL ARCHITECTURE : CRITICAL SUSTAINABILITY
DAG PETERSSON : NIELS GRØNBÆK
東 松 島 市
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DIPLOMA PROGRAMME
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Higashimatsushima
coastal areas cautioned against tidal waves major earthquake centres liklihood of snow damage liklihood of flood damage
Japan Map of Natural Disasters. ‘The Complete Atlas of Japan’. Teikoku: Tokyo.
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv 01_political object
Crisis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reconstruction initiatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Postcrisis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Agency principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tectonic agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Agency FAQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3 5 7 11 13 15
02_architectural intention
Spatial tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KotobukichĹ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Urban intervention strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19 21 13 27
03 academic territory
Academic relevance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Research fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 04_representation
40 Design tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Presentation material. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 05_appendix
v Precedents (visual / built) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii Reconstruction guidance critique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Rebuilding actors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv Interview list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi Historical photographs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii Local planning drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi Government reconstruction sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxii Historical maps 1915-2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii Selected bibliography & further reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv CV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Links to the appendix are annotated with (app.XX)
The Postcrisis Reconstruction Agency is a project which occupies the dual spatio-political territory of architecture and economics to suggest an alternate mode of reconstruction in the aftermath of urban trauma. Catastrophe possesses an ability to facilitate new ways of making and living in cities. It may also fragment and depress communities, diminishing the agency of its subjects to enact upon their built surroundings. In the present condition, how may dominant archinomic forces be prevented from sculpting the urban territory unabated? What would the impact of this alternate model be in the case of Higashimatsushima, Japan? The Postcrisis Reconstruction Agency recasts the notion of what it means to rebuild by taking the notion of reconstruction as political object - that around which people gather. The Agency reprograms the design process through its unique financing structure. Its business model has is being developed to operate specifically within the postcrisis condition, bridging the typologies of bank and architecture studio. Its aim is to promote a long-term local stewardship over urban reconstruction, determined by continuous feedback loops and critical consultation. The Agency operates on the premise that by mutating a value mechanism, results will visibly emerge within the physical landscape. By funding a user-driven design process, the hypothesis is that the resultant urbanism will be responsive to the needs - at times critical - of those in which it comes into contact. ................................................ The thesis method is co-evolutionary, in that it combines both written investigation and architectural process. The object of enquiry has been defined through extensive journalistic research on the ground in both Higashimatsushima and Tokyo during 2015. Ongoing research bridges between Copenhagen Business School and Kunstakademis Arkitektskole through its ambition to define the specific economic territory of the Agency. A developed business plan conforming to disciplinary convention will therefore form a key element of the thesis submission. i
Last year, 60% of the designated reconstruction budget for the rebuilding of Tōhoku bounced back unspent. In previous years, this has topped 80%.
Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. October 2015. ‘For Accelerating the Development from the Great East Japan Earthquake’.
ii
Municipal apartment buildings following completion, Hiagshi-Yamoto, 1980.
Privately-funded road and housing development, 1976.
iii
This program will apply a catalogue of key terms in unfamiliar contexts. They are defined as the following:
Wall, R. 2010. The Need for Archinomics. in: L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui. 378. June – July 2010. 56-61.
‘archinomics’ The specific spatio-political territory formed by the overlap of contemporary architecture and economic practice (architecture as development). The term was first applied in 2010 by human geographer Ronald Wall to highlight increasing prevalence of an architectural expression dictated by free-market economics. For the Agency, the archinomic is brought forward as the political territory of intervention. ‘actuation phase’ The peak programmatic capacity of the Agency. ‘bifurcation’ The moment in history at which real and imagined futures diverge. In the case of Higashimatsushima, it is suggested this occurs when financial resources are diverted from rebuilding within the city itself to peripheral new-build housing plots. ‘state of exception’ The temporary period exempt from the everyday political state of affairs following severe urban trauma.
Further reading: http://www. urbanomic.com/ pub_accelerate.php
‘postcrisis’ The condition of instability brought about by catastrophe, human or environmental, which holds the potential for divisive change. ‘platform’ The infrastructure of a global society, which holds the capacity to establish the basic parameters of what is possible, both ideologically and behaviourally. Material platforms might include production, finance and logistics. The Agency works on the premise that the platform may be reprogrammed.
Architectural Design. Sep/Oct 2010. PostTraumatic Urbanism.
‘urban trauma’ The condition in which an event, in this case the Great Tsunami of 2011, damages not only the physical environment and infrastructure of a city, but also the social and cultural networks which bind communities together.
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1
KotobukichĹ? Yamoto during early evening, awaiting the arrival of clientele. October 2015.
01 Political Object
01. Political Object
“Money had no name of course. What gave money its true meaning was its dark night namelessness, it’s breathtaking interchangeability.”
Murakami, Haruki. 1998. ‘The Wind-up Bird Chronicle’. New York: Random House.
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11.03.2011
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Crisis: tsunami Operation Toothcomb (immedicate infrastructural repairs)
18.03.2011
Operation Tomodatchi (extension of on-site US military personnel on the ground). Reconstruction council (RDC) initiated
01.04.2011
Unit for Collaboration with the Private Sector for Reconstruction established
Guidelines for Reconstruction published (10 yr. recovery plan)
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10.02.2012 01.03.2012
End of ‘intensive reconstruction period’.
01.10.2015
4 year review of reconstruction process by Japanese national government
01.01.2016
Establishment of Postcrisis Reconstruction Agency
Tsunami strikes the Tohoku shoreline, March 11, 2011. Reuters.
01 Political Object
Higashimatsushima 東松島市 Higashimatsushima city is a small metropolitan area of 43,000 residents located southwest of Ishinomaki on the Tōhoku peninsula. The town was heavily impacted by the 2011 tsunami, losing over 65% of its built infrastructure to the sea. Statistics give an insight into the scale of the trauma: bodies found in the city 1063; homes completely destroyed 5513; homes majorly harmed 3060; homes partly destroyed 2500; peak evacuees 15185. For more information, see: Editorial Commission of Higashimatsusnima, (矢本町史), The History of Yamotocho. (矢本町史 第 一巻/矢本町史編 纂委員会)
Tsunami strikes the Tōhoku shoreline
Prior to the tsunami, Higashimatsushima was a sleepy town which grew around a US air base and its resident personnel. This cultural influence had a marked impression on the formation of both its entertainment industry (baseball pitches, bars and working men’s clubs) and town planning strategy. The coastal region was laid out during the Meiji era around a series of irrigation channels recovered from swampland. The majority of the residential infrastructure was commissioned and planned during the land readjustment project in the 1930s.
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B
A
JR Senseki line reopened in 2015
E F
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Higashimatsushima. Summary of reconstruction initiatives.
City boundary Tsunami extent Compulsory relocation Temporary housing Future reconstruction
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New-build housing neighbourhoods
Levees - extension of the regional sea wall scheme Temporary housing for tsunami refugees
Solar-powered tsunami surveillance cameras (funded in part by the Danish government)
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Nobiru North Hill Dstrict
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Ushiami Residential Area
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Yamoto West Residential Area
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Ushiami Residential Area
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Murohama Residential Area
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Ohama Residential Area
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Tsukihama Residential Area
For more detailed information on these reconstruction areas, see page xxi.
Yamoto greenbelt (national project)
1:100,000
The immediate priority of the Japanese government following the tsunami was to restablish transport routes to allow passage of emergency vehicles. Meanwhile evacuees were moved into temporary accommodation awaiting relocation. Seven Group Relocation Promotion Areas of private and public housing initiatives were designated by national government, four within the main urban area of Higashimatsushima and three on Miyato Island to the south. Works commenced during 2012 and will continue into 2017, affecting 2321 households overall. These plans will dramatically alter the spatial distribution of Higashimatsushima. The main rail connection, the JR Senseki line, reopened last year. The RDC also plan for a Yamoto green belt, a series of three levees and tsunami surveillance cameras along the coastline, in collaboration with Danish solar industry (the status of which remains undefined).
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Postcrisis On Friday March 11 2011, an extraordinarily violent earthquake shook the Pacific coastline of Tōhoku, sending a colossal tsunami crashing inland. That night saw a frantic rescue effort to save trapped victims as temperatures plummeted below zero. As the sun rose the following morning over Higashimatsushima, unimaginable destruction stretched out over ten kilometres inland. Over half of the buildings had been physically ripped from their foundations as entire families and their livelihoods were swept out to sea. While the physical debris was cleared with remarkable efficiency, communities in Higashimatsushima remained scattered. Central government funds designated for the reconstruction effort bounced back unspent as local citizens struggled to organise and apply for grants. The municipal council, who itself had lost many employees in the disaster, opened a series of overlapping ministerial divisions, each with conflicting visions of redevelopment. The Revival City Planning Division (復興都市計画課), Revival Policy Division (復興政策課) and ‘HOPE’(1) were installed in the local council offices and began their pursuit of overlapping agendas. These governmental divisions soon formed collaborations with international NGOs who descended upon the area to assist with the rebuilding effort. Today, the majority of the NGO-collaboration schemes are on hold or have been since dissolved, echoing the disinterest of long-term foreign aid in the region. Statement projects deposited by prominent Tokyo architects - some of which by admission were inspired by Sherigu Ban’s international notoriety from the rebuilding of Kobe - were neglected without long-term maintenance strategies when their designers returned to the capital. In the absence of steadfast policy, the bulk of reconstruction work was absorbed by the private market. During 2012 the Japanese Government released a paper designating over 200 Special Zones of Reconstruction (2), in what could be argued was an act of subcontracting the task of city planning and redesign to the private market. These enclaves promised substantial de-regulation, fiscal assistance and tax brakes. It was suggested these low or free-tax incentives would guide industry and service revival in the area; adopting a investment method similar to the controversial Export Processing Zones (4). Legislation would be skewed in favour of the private market in a drive to boost production and stimulate external 7
(1) ‘Higashimatsushima Organization for Progress and Economy Education Energy’
(2) Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. 2012. Framework for Stimulating Direct Investment.
(3) Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). 2013. The Study of Reconstruction Processes for Large Scale Disasters.
(4) An Export Processing Zone (EPZ) is a customs area where one is allowed to import plant, machinery, equipment and material for the manufacture of export goods under security, without payment of duty.
01 Political Object 02 Agency
Night on the Southbank. The National Theatre. Denis Lasdun. 1978.
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The sheer scope of the zones, which extend far beyond the remit of tsunami damage, assisted Japan’s largest corporations sculpt the postcrisis for their own advantage. National government advocated party line of ‘open reconstruction’ and sub-commissioned its research into the region's rebuilding to the World Bank(3). The urbanism which resulted has thus far been one of plot-driven speculation which echoes the bottom-line motives of Japan’s largest construction firms. Projects have been approached with an emphasis on speed, volume and generation of replicable floorspace. Essential resources have been further drained from the region by the notoriously unscrupulous construction companies, reported to have profiteered and siphoned off designated funds, further inflating rebuilding costs. Three of the largest development firms, all with a stake in the area’s reconstruction, have seen profits double since the tsunami (5). Social assistance both in the immediate aftermath of the disaster and in subsequent years has also been approached primarily within this economic framework, firstly through insurance hand-outs then in extended unemployment benefit and tax wavers. Evidence suggests such policy has not been as effective as was hoped. A four-year review (6) on the progress of
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Redevelopment in Higashimatsushima. October 2015.
(5) Asian Review. October 15, 2015.
(6) The World Bank, ‘Leaning from Megadisasters’ Reconstruction Planning 2014. Ch. 21. Reconstruction Policy and Planning.
01 Political Object 02 Agency
Disparity between the area affected by the tsunami and the Special Zones of Reconstruction. Special Zones of Reconstruction Extent of tsunami damage District boundaries Higashimatsushima
(7) Waite, Richard. ‘Architects as Developers: Eight Schemes’ in: The Architects’ Journal, January 21, 2016. In interview with London-based practice Matthew Lloyd on the architect-developer in response to London’s soaring property prices.
reconstruction in Tōhoku stated 198,000 evacuees currently remain trapped in emergency housing, unable to afford to buy into the new-build plots. Many are elderly, unengaged with the rebuilding progressing around them. 2016 will see a 66% drop-off rate in government funding for reconstruction in Higashimatsushima as money is diverted to other departments. This leaves local citizens in a precarious position; and is precisely the context into which this project proposes to intervene. If the postcrisis can be viewed as a territory by which dominant forces spatialise, it also sets the ground for architectural intervention. To counteract the subsumption of architecture into economic directives, architects must confidently and fluidly traverse the fields of business planning and finance. This is the territory of modern city planning. The twentyfirst century architect must become both a developer and an idealist; or risk being subcontracted to a development company. “(What is required is) creative and clever thinking, a bit of alchemy even (...) just the kind of thing an architect can instinctively turn her or his hand to.” (7) 10
Combining typologies of architecture studio and bank
see solid effects of grant money (eg. gov. budget)
closer adherence to directives : less financing of corruption : encouraging industry
START-UP FUNDERS
effective redevelopment strategies : preparedness for future disasters : job creation
POLICY MAKERS
engaging project briefs : joined-up process : community feedback : long-term involvement
work on local projects : training : neighbouring suppliers : wage security : stand against corruption
BUILDER
AGENCY BOARD
BANK CLERK ARCHITECTDEVELOPER acceptable returns on financial services : re-investment in the local area : safe place to invest money
long term reconstruction : job creation AGENCY CLIENTELE
RESIDENTS
job stability : ongoing client relationships
The Agency is balanced through the selfstabilising motives of its stakeholders and communities. It is not overseen by investors working upon profit margins, but is instead stabilised by a central fund, which finances the architectural development activities.
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Delimitation of the Agency
01 Political Object
Agency principles (1) (1) Agency principles are outlined in full within the business model.
Conceptually, the Agency has been developed in reaction to the inability for budgeting and policy alone to account for nonmarket values, which I argue in the essay 'Archinomics' has resulted in a distinguishable impact upon the architectural expression of the modern, global city in the developed economy. To master operations within the economised territory of urban development, the Agency adopts the language of spatialised economics and politics.
(2) In contrast to being speculatively dictated by big business and/or . centralised government.
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. The Agency will localise the funding pot to enable rebuilding to be stewarded long-term within its host community. (2) . As an enterprise, it aspires towards financial and fiscal autonomy, steered by its cooperative of stakeholders. It is a not-for-profit operation. Implantation sites must be able to be supported by the central fund for six months. (3) . It may occupy any urban site which has undergone trauma. Stakeholders are The Agency consciously selects to serve the unprofitable, the individuals or small businesses who can outcasts, communities currently unable to invest in the future. prove they have been adversely affected by the trauma, financially or . The Agency undergoes a growth process closely informed by infra-structurally. critical input from its stakeholders(3). Strong emphasis is placed
upon a critical development process.
. It must disband when no such stakeholders remain - limiting its operation period to the postcrisis. . It works with local contractors to develop skills and networks within the host city; extending investment beyond its vicinity. . The Agency trades the cash of its clients - stakeholders - for an investment in rebuilding that responds to an alternate algorithm. . It conducts ongoing research into local spatio-political conflicts with an aim to develop a comprehensive archive of studies to inform future mutations. . Architecturally, the Agency strives to leave behind architectural conditions which are responsive and performative for the local community. 12
01. Designation Delimit boundaries of operation within urban territory. Determination of the scale of intimacy.
02. Arrival Agency manifests within its urban site with select pioneering functions and political statement.
03. Operation Functions multiply and iterate, developing additional and specialised programs.
04. Actuation Agency operational at peak programmatic capacity. It works to serve and alter its immediate neighbourhood.
05. De-operation Outsourcing of functions, postcrisis clientele are served within the neighbourhood.
06. Dispansion The project is the 'remains' of the agency, sculpted by the its functions. Agency initiates relocation process.
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01 Political Object
Tectonic agenda “Diagrams are now abstract machines, they are the cutting edges of creation and deterritorialization” (1) (1) Deleuze, G & F. Guattari. 1993. ‘A Thousand Plateaus, Capitalism and Schizophrenia.’ trans. Brian Massumi. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press.
The Postcrisis Reconstruction Agency constructs an alternate to the sculpting of future cities by an economic metabolism. It intervenes selectively to divert forces which are intrinsically non-local and abstract which have taken root in everyday infrastructure. It attempts this by embedding tectonic devices within the urban fabric, in a designated territory. The Agency recasts urban environments to re-bind roaming financial flows to physical matter. For its strategic placing within the reconstruction actor network, see (app.13). The architectural project is therefore that which is left behind - the relationships, spaces and connections which remain after the Agency has disbanded. This is the urban legacy which remains when the Agency has run its course. The Agency makes and remakes itself, working within existing frameworks to reassign motives and roles. Its aim is not to superseed but work parallel to existing power relations. It must therefore work between scales. Form follows fiction - the Agency foregrounds the narratives of those living and using the city. It aims to reconstruct also the social fabric, by facilitating the convergence of the human and the social. It works on the premise the spatio-political holds otherwise potential, which can be actualised through the visible. The Agency is therefore a sculpture machine, in that it creates multiple and unseen results. “The diagrammatic or abstract machine (that) does not function to represent, even something real, but rather constructs a real that is yet to come, a new type of reality” (1)
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BANK éŠ€čĄŒ What financial services does the Postcrisis Reconstruction Agency offer to lenders? The Agency offers two main financial products: start-up loans and savings accounts. Each saver or lendee automatically becomes a stakeholder in the Agency, unless they choose to opt-out. What does it mean to be a stakeholder in the Agency? All stakeholders have the right to vote for specific projects for the Agency to take on. They also have the right to attend monthly update meetings, minutes of which will be made available publicly. Can anyone become a stakeholder? No, you must be a full-time resident of Higashimatsushima, or spouse of a full-time resident. From where does the Agency receive its initial investment? Private investors and/or national government (reconstruction budget). Once the bank department is running, the Agency will operate on a basis of financial self-sufficiency from the central fund. What is de-laundering? If money laundering is the process by which criminals disguise the proceeds of criminal conduct by making such proceeds appear to have derived from a legitimate source, de-laundering is the reverse. The Agency can therefore be understood as a de-laundering institution. What happens if the central fund dries up? In this unlikely event, ongoing construction projects will be paused and the Agency will go into a shock phase until the bank department can bring additional resources into the central fund. If this is not possible, the Agency will be dissolved. What are the benefits of bringing my custom here over other highstreet banks in Higahshimatsushima? Primarily, the Agency offers extremely competitive value financial services with one-on-one customer advice. We have the capacity to deal with savings held in cash and are specialised in small business and start-up ventures. Customers can also choose to remain anonymous. One can rest assured money will be re-invested locally, and the physical results will be seen. By choosing the PRA, you may also minimise the financing of corrupt organisations. Exactly what does the Agency offer Higashimatsushima? Long-term stewardship over the reconstruction process following trauma. Contrary to a high-street bank, it invests in the future, rather than holding it to ransom. It learns from and aims to prove transferable to other contexts. 15
STUDIO 工房
01 Political Object
How often are the project update meetings? The meetings will be held on the first Sunday of each month, in on the current premises. All stakeholders will be informed prior to the meetings and have the opportunity to voice their views or concerns. How does the Agency select its sites of intervention? The studio department of the Agency will present a portfolio of potential sites from its ongoing research into spatio-political conflict in the city. The final selection will be made through democratic vote by stakeholders. What type of projects will the Agency take on? All projects must be sited within the designated metropolitan area of the host city, in this case Higashimatsushima. Additionally, they must fit within the local government’s initiatives for reconstruction. Are the projects legally protected? Yes, the Agency has the benefit of operating under the regulatory codes of both the banking and construction industries; AIA Japan, Building Control and FSA, Commercial Code - Companies Act, and the Banking Act. What have been the key concerns with the current reconstruction effort since 2011? Two of the main shortfalls are that planning decisions centralised in Tokyo and there is a lack of long-term locally based support, leading to a detachment with on-site construction and local communities. In addition to this, there is an unacceptable underspend, due in part to a lack of community-initiated project applications. Further, there have been reports of significant corruption and double dealing within the construction industry, which has lead to reconstruction projects being drawn out and sometimes under-financed. In what way can the Agency improve on the current reconstruction effort? The Agency changes how construction projects are funded and run, therefore giving the local community a stake in what gets commissioned and built following urban trauma. By conducting a long-term operation in a specific area, it is able to guide the building process on-site by site allowing a greater care, stewardship and crucially, accountability, for the ongoing reconstruction process.
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KotobukichĹ? front and back. November 2015.
02 Architectural Intention
Hayo Miyozaki, Japanese screenwriter and film director.
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02. Architectural Intention
“The creation of a single word comes from a huge number of fragments and chaos�
01.01.2016
Establishment of Postcrisis Reconstruction Agency Application for Agency sites. Sites presented with strategic definition, brief and key spatio-political concerns.
3
Project vote. (The construction of the winning project(s) must be able to be supported by the initial donors for minimum six months.) 18.02.2016
01.05.2016
Project selection. KotobukichĹ?. Client informed and contract signed. Timescale drawn up. Specific operation area defined. Central fund initiated. Proceed with the architect to work with concept design, feeding back monthly to the Agency Board. Developed design; technical design.
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01.01.2017
Estimated completion of government housing relocation
01.02.2017
Selection of local contractor to take on construction work. Construction. Agency oversees work on-site. Signed off by the client. Agency prepares for disbansion.
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Project selection: Higashi-Yamoto.
02 Architectural Intention
Delimiting Restricting functions, blocking connections, containing flows, forming alleys.
Subtractive Programmatic removal, novel connections.
Additive Supplementary programming, restricting associations.
Examples of spatial intervention tactics: De-laundering at KotobukichĹ?. intervenes with the present condition which supports money laundering through its architectural expression. The interventions take the urban square as a totality, unconcerned for ownership boundaries.
Splitting Distance functions, visual connection, opening alleys.
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21
02 Architectural Intention
Kotobukichō 寿町 (1)
(1) Literally, 寿町, or life’-‘town’
(2) Pachinko (パチン コ) is a mechanical game originating from Japan played mainly to gamble money, comparable to that of a slot machine.
(3) Japan Times. 17.05.2011. Post-disaster business opportunities attracting wrong kind of enterprise.
The first realisation of the Agency will be at Kotobukichō, Higashimatsushima. This site was selected for evidence of a lack of investment following the tsunami as reconstruction funds were directed to new-build schemes on the outskirts of the city (bifurcation). How is money laundering supported by this physical space? There is a proliferation of cash-in-hand businesses in the immediate neighbourhood, suggesting an immediate clientele to kick-start Agency operations. Today, the primary function of Kotobukichō is evening entertainment, where formerly it was residential. Hostess clubs and bars are perched tenuously above brothels and patchinko stalls (2). Due to the nature of these industries, it can be speculated that those living or working within Kotobukichō may have less than average access to a high-street bank. Following the disaster, it was reported compensation was being handed out in the emergency shelters in brown paper envelopes (3); which was quickly finding its way into illicit industry as people struggled to get back on their feet and re-engage with work. 4
Spatial layout of the block. Built from onsite research, 2015.
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22
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The architectural expression of Kotobukichō is temporary, light and shares a tectonic language - and often a contractor - with the city’s emergency housing units (4). All structures were damaged to some extent by the tsunami, with exception of the concrete residential block to the south which remained unharmed (app.33). This block was constructed in 1954 to house military personnel (app.35) and has since housed council tenants.
(4) Visit to Kohiri building suppliers, Higashimatsushima, October 2015.
The predominant approach to Kotobukichō is by car, turning from Route 45 (the main connection road from Ishinomaki to Sendai) and parking in a lot within the square. It is little over 100m away from Yamoto Station (矢本 ) which re-opened during 2015. Within Kotobukichō, night workers and clients scurry between buildings via a series of narrow alleys and passageways which punctuate the urban block. These avenues to a greater or lesser extent reveal themselves to onlookers with entry carpets and the hum of neon lights. Approximately seven landlords hold property on Kotobukichō. In most cases, the landlord owns the external building shell and also the businesses within, and the 23
Arcade into Kotobukichō illuminated at night, displaying signs for bars and brothels.
02 Architectural Intention Alleyway access between the restaurant and brothel lit by a perpendicular passageway at the far end.
businesses within pay rent for a room. Roles of business-owner and land-owner seem to converge, for example in the case of the brothel on the north-facing street. The Agency make specific tectonic interventions pertaining to the political and spatial demands of KotobukichĹ?. Key themes include: . omote / ura : front and back in Japanese tradition . facade (bank) . metamorphosis over time . access: alleyways For examples of spatio-political tactics in which the Agency might employ, see page 20. When the Agency at KotobukichĹ? is disbanded, it will leave behind an alternate urban condition, which will be mapped through the project design process. It is envisioned the Agency would then move to Higashi-Yamoto, and onwards to Shimoura temporary housing community; serving clientele at each location in turn. (For further information, see the Postcrisis Reconstruction Agency urban intervention strategy, page 23).
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public functions
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Suggested internal program at actuation phase Areas are approximately proportional and arranged in relation to their situation within the banking or studio department of the Agency, and their level of privacy.
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private functions
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bank functions
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17 12
studio functions
Payphone on Sakaemachi, presumably used to call clients within the
02 Architectural Intention
Agency functions: actuation stage. Key to the area diagram opposite (page 25). 1. vault 2. cash sorting office 3. cash deposit boxes 4. private consultation rooms 5. bank office 6. public cash desks 7. ground floor structure
bank functions
View into a restaurant on KotobukichĹ?, early evening. October 2015.
8. private toilets 9. public toilets 10. exhibition space 11. circulation space 12. shared discussion room 13. storage studio functions
14. director’s office 15. architecture office 16. architecture model workshop 17. architecture meeting room / joint studio space
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PROJECT 1: KotobukichĹ? PROJECT 2: HigashiYamoto. PROJECT 3: Shimoura temporary housing community Compulsory relocation Temporary housing Plots earmarked for relocation Future reconstruction Large-scale rebuilding, earthworks Existing bank branches
Postcrisis Reconstruction Agency Urban intervention strategy The Agency moves from site to site in the urban realm, engaging with one defined block at a time. The initial location following crisis is selected by the initial donors via a community consultation process; it aims as far as possible to be carried out independent of government or private interests to minimise double dealing and delays in implementation. It employs a range of spatio-political tactics to remould the architectural relationships of each 'site'. The Agency provides specific functions to the site in question while it is located there; what is left behind is the project.
1:12500
29 25
03 Academic Territory
Lefebvre H. 2003. The Urban Revolution. Minnesota: Minnesota University Press. The archinomic city: Dallas skyline. 2001. Reuters.
30
03. Academic Territory
“Architects mediate between global forces of economic production and the local ideals of the production of space�
Academic relevance This project provides a project-based example of how and alternate model of urban re-generation might be realised in the case of Higashimatsushima, Japan. . At the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (Sendai, March 14-18 2015), it was suggested there was a critical absence of long-term investment in post-disaster rebuilding. This sentiment is echoed by the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) wing of UNISDR who currently work with the ongoing reconstruction effort. (1) “What is often overlooked is the architecture of these new cities, how they can last and in what way they can become resilient.” . There was a substantial involvement of Danish industry in the initial re-planning of Higashimatsushima, exemplified in the royal visit of Crown Prince Frederik during 2012. Most of these projects have since dissolved and when contacted, all Danish companies involved declined to comment on the status of ongoing works. . In the largest study on reconstruction following the tsunami, Learning from Megadisasters (2), there was an emphasis on inclusive and participatory planning; however the guidelines did not extend to how this might be achieved. . The social aspect of trauma forms the main narrative of Creation from Catastrophe, exhibiting this spring at the RIBA.
(1) See ministerial roundtable briefing, http://www.wcdrr. org/uploads/ Reconstructing-afterdisasters-Build-backbetter.pdf
(2) The World Bank, ‘Leaning from Megadisasters’ Reconstruction Planning 2014. Ch. 21. Reconstruction Policy and Planning.
. Speaking in London during January 2016, German architect Ole Scheeren proposed a re-working of Louis Sullivan’s suggesting form should follow fiction. The talk emphasised the importance of design method that engaged the narratives of those using and living in the spaces created by architects. . There is envisioned potential for the business model of the Postcrisis Reconstruction Agency to be applied to other urban areas, which have or have not undergone trauma. It could be imagined it would also have substantial impact in a Nepalese context, where reconstrution work has been slowed by an unresponsive government.
(3) See ‘Nepal earthquake funds unclaimed and unspent as winter looms for survivors’. Pete Pattisson writing for the Guardian.
31
Arata Isozaki, 1968. Reruined Hiroshima.
03 Academic Territory
Extracts from ‘Recovering After Disasters: Build Back Better’, preliminary Ministerial Rundtable. Concept note.
“The experience of disaster recovery and reconstruction interventions has been a mixed one. While governments have implemented large-scale recovery and reconstruction programmes in the wake of a number of major disasters over the past decade, these programs are meeting challenges” “Based on trends over the past decades, with increasing wealth, with growing urban areas, that the need for skills, expertise and consolidated knowledge about reconstruction planning and implementation, is needed.” “Common challenges and gaps are, defining policy frameworks and enabling mechanisms support on a consistent basis, timeframes for reconstruction, institutional responsibilities (local, regional and national), financing instruments, engagement and consultations with individual and communities for the reconstruction planning” “Fundamental social and economic issues, such as aiming for relocating communities/or industries from highly exposed/ dangerous locations for better safety is an underpinning goal but a challenging one.” “Typically, the local economy through the physical destruction and social impact, will be severely affected. How can the reviving of the local economy and markets, with employment be stimulated and a priority?”
Academic Territory: Assemblage of research fields The project will develop in a co-evolutionary manner, in that it merges ongoing academic research with architectural design process, developing a catalogue of production through both. Research will be conducted with the aim to form a series of pamphlets to be submitted alongside the architectural production in June. ................................................ A . Field Condition: Archinomics in the age of risk As I argue in the essay Archinomics, reconstruction left to the hands of the free market may display a recognizable set of architectural expressions, a characterisation of contemporary economic principles. This may manifest as endless repetition (floorspace + facade) barely touching the ground. It is the antithesis of the theatrical, the narrated or atmospheric. It is instead an architecture of duplication, speed and abstraction; one that begins to be captured in the writing of Deleuze and Gutarri, or Koolhaas ‘Junkspace’. (1) The free-market procurement process puts undue emphasis on construction speed, outsourcing the design process to mass-prefabrication firms and development companies. The future user is divorced from this process, resulting in built infrastructure remaining un-used or underused where investors overshoot speculation. This research field interests itself in the rhetoric of the convergence between architecture and economics, a phenomenon very present in both the press and academic literature alike. ................................................ B . Urban Idealism: Legacy of the Metabolists In May 2011, Mori Art Museum in Tokyo hosted the world’s largest retrospective on Metabolism, one of Japan’s most influential architecture movements. The architects of this movement saw the cities of the future as a living, moving and evolving entity which possessed the ability to transform 33
(1) Rem Koolhaas. Junkspace. October, Vol. 100, Obsolescence. (Spring, 2002). 175-190.
03 Academic Territory
34
35
Architectural symptoms of a prevailing 'jakunuku-kyoshu’ (the strong devour the weak) economicurbanism in Higashimatsushima, October 2015.
03 Academic Territory
as a route towards more progressive communities in a period of huge cultural and economic shifts, exemplifying the prevailing mood in Japan following the second world war. They hoped that modelling urbanism with a utopian idealism and biological process would enable tomorrow’s cities to cope with the rapid economic growth and technological progress. One of their key gifts to architecture was that of the megastructure; a response to the temporary, even unpredictable lifeforms in the Japanese city. What, as architects, can we learn from this idealism today? ................................................ C . The Untimely Object: Political Architectures Beirut-based architect Rana Hadad founded research practice dblu in 1997 with the aim to question ability of objects and places to become a means of political expression. Working specifically within the context of post-1990 Beirut, dblu aspired to bridge the gap between political science and the city through the use of daily findings and oral history. An extension of this work, ‘atelier de recherché’ at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts, furthered an interest in urban installations as objects of political, social and urban statements. This project aims to bridge select disciplines, both in a conceptual sense and through design method in its variance of drawn and written representation. What could the visual expression of alternate agendas become in the city? What, then, is the untimely object? ................................................ (1) Nisbet, Robert; Wagg, Susan; Tucker, Anne W.; ‘Money Matters: A Critical Look at Bank Architecture’ New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990.
Richard Nickel photographs Louis Sullevan,Chicago.
D . Institutionalising Rhetoric: Bank as typology When money is involved, it has its own purpose, to move.. “Many bank buildings are, after all, representations - in three dimensional form - of the financial and social conditions of a city or town.” (1) As noted in Wim de Wit’s review of Money Matters, there has been a notable lack of academic interest in the bank typology within both architectural theory and history disciplines. This is surprising due to the institution’s intertwined relationship to its host city and the socioeconomic factors and ideology from which it is shaped. 36
The final pamphlet will be an investigation into the bank as institution and architectural presence in the city; aiming to move beyond an analysis of functional arrangement or style. From a brief literature review, it appears many published studies focus on specific bank buildings, for example those of American architect Louis Sullivan. While this might be an interesting starting point, my research will look further into the use of architectural ornament and tectonic devices that the bank employs to address their desired clientele. Banks aim to project at once images of a stable conservatism and an idealism, which could be seen as otherwise to Japanese tradition and contemporary construction. They occupy a point of precarious inflection between the past and future, and, like the postcrisis, mould their state of exception to suit. An aim of the study, is to attempt to architecturally define a bank of the twenty-first century. What functions would it be required to enclose? What could be conducted digitally and what in person? How can the servers be protected?
The UK-based activist group Banking Futures publish current insights into the future of banking, including the Inevitable closure of bank branches, which disproportionatley affects the elderly and the digitally excluded.
National Farmer’s Bank of Owatonna Building in Owatonna, Minnesota.Louis Sullivan with decorative elements by George Elmslie.1908.
03 Academic Territory
Research pamphlets on display: 01 Field Condition, 02 Urban Idealism, 03 Institutionalising Rhetoric, 04 Untimely Object.
38
39 i
Kazimir Malevich. Vertical Architectons. 1929-31.
04 Representation
The project will be designed through a co-evolutionary approach, employing exploratory methods of tectonic intervention, business modelling, sketching, and written research. In June 2016, the project will be represented as an architectural drawing set with presentation models, with accompanying academic pamphlets and a formal business plan; in addition to collated process work. ................................................ Representation: Design tactics. The intervention of the Agency deals with three-dimensional spatio-political tectonics, the strategy is therefore to design using primarily three-dimensional methods. (app.01) Emphasis during the design process will be on working models, axonometric projection, and visualisations. The hope is these methods will also accommodate for multiple iterations and change over time, as the presence of the Agency expands and contracts. Working models will conform to a series of scales, from the urban plan to the detail; sometimes without recognised scale. (app.02, 05)
To aid the formation of project visualisations, I have invented the task collective encounters. This concern aims to address the following questions. What is it to use the Agency? To move around it? To see its impacts on the city? It is hoped this will prove an interesting entry point to a delicate design process which foregrounds narrative journey while remaining rooted in Japan. As a development from working method explored during the project last year, printmaking will be explored as a method of producing evolving drawings. Inspiration will be drawn from the Japanese process of Shin-hanga ć–°ç‰ˆç”ť, mixing the dual technique of line-formwork + block colour or wash applied after the linework. Architectural exploration into the form and impact of the Agency will be conducted simultaneously to ongoing research and business modelling in collaboration with Copenhagen Business School.
40
04. Representation
Collective encounters will follow the intersecting narratives of four characters - Asuka (the working girl), Mayu (the architect), Kenshin (the fraudster) and Hiraku (the bank manager).
Representation: Presentation material. Techniques explored through the design process will be worked up to form a full architectural drawing set to represent the project. It expected this will include the following: . axonometric projections, visualisations . site plan 1:1000 . plan 1:200 . section 1:100 / 1:50 . elevation 1:100 . construction details 1:20 It is hoped a number of the drawings will be formed using the Shin-hanga (新版画) dual technique of printing lines and applying a colour wash behind. (app.06) The project will also be displayed through developed working models and three dimensional diagrams. Dependent upon the usefulness of collective encounters as a design tool, it may prove useful to display material from this activity, or at least feed into the formation of the drawn work. (app.07)
A series of presentation research pamphlets will be developed from working notes and ongoing research. They may conform to, but not be limited by the following headings: . Archinomics; architecture in the age of risk . Urban idealism; legacy of the Metabolists . The untimely object; political architectures (1) . Institutionalising rhetoric; bank as typology A10-page business plan outlining the financial operations of the Agency, will conclude the presentation material for submission.
41
(1) This research hopes to feed into a paper written for the upcoming conference ‘Art & Politics in Postwar Japan’ at the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen, May 26-27, 2016.
Pen and ink drawing. Lebbeus Woods, from ‘Architecture is a Political Act - Architectural Monographs’. St Martin’s Press. 1992.
04 Representation
42
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05 Appendix
(app.01) Diagram from ‘Education of an Architect’.Cooper Union. New York, 1971.
05. Appendix
(app.02) Soviet constructivist architectures (built or non-built). University Of Western Australia, Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts(ALVA). 2013.
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(app.03) Chernikov. A harmonised combination of geometric forms for an industrial complex; from ‘The Construction of Architectural and Machine Forms’. 1931.
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(app.04) Chernikhov. An example of the articulation of a building’s hidden Constructivist character; from ‘The Construction of Architectural and Machine Forms’.
05 Appendix
(app.05) Malevich, Gota Arkitekton. 1923; From Petrova, ‘Kazimir Malevich in the Russian Museum’.
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(app.06) Still from Eleanor Rigby, Yellow Submarine. Dir. Heinz Edelmann. 1968.
05 Appendix
(app.07) Pen and ink drawing. Lebbeus Woods, from ‘Architecture is a Political Act - Architectural Monographs’. St Martin’s Press. 1992.
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(app.08) Precedent A . The Development Agency RealDania, Copenhagen. Urban development agencies have an influential stake in the contemprary city and they can often go about their business unacknowledged by architects. (app.09) Precedent B . Political Tectonics Mughrabi Gate Bridge, Jerusalem. Simple urban actions can have surprsing consequences. (app.10) Precedent
C . Architectural Image 42nd Street Now, New York, 1992. Projecting an image may not retain the essence of place, especially if it is
D . Reconstruction politics Tangshan, China, 1976-80 Alternate government structures can completely shift how redevelopment is organised and undertaken. In the wake of Tangshan, the government refused all international aid.
Benjamin, Andrew. ‘Trauma within the walls: Notes Towards a Philosophy of the City.’ in: Architectural Design London: Wiley. Sept/ Oct 2010. Vale, Lawrence et. al. 2004. ‘The Resilient City: How Modern Cities Recover from Disaster.’ New York: Oxford University Press.
(app.11) Precedent
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42nd Street prior to the Robert Stern’s ‘42nd Street Now.’ scheme.
05 Appendix
(app.12)
Government Issued Guidance for Reconstruction
Key transport routes were quickly reestablished. Further than the re-opening of the Senseki line, there seems to be little investment in public transport.
1.
Recognise the challenges of an ageing and declining population by promoting adequate public transportation and support services.
2.
Promote a strategy of multiple defences through soft and hard (structural) measures, putting people at the centre of disaster reduction.
The majority of reconstruction contracts have been offered to construction conglomerates, with very little client input. The exception to this are the series of architect - initiated Home for All projects.
3.
Promote a ‘new public commons’ through social inclusion of a wide range of stakeholders in the reconstruction.
4.
Make municipalities in the disaster areas the main actors accountable for reconstruction, aided by financial and technical support from the central government and prefectures.
Some development companies greatly profited from the redevelopment process, over which the local authority has minimal control at site-level.
5.
Promote rapid re-organisation of land-use, to stimulate investment and prevent speculation.
6.
Prioritize providing stable residencies for the affected, through favourable housing loans and low-rent public housing.
In practice, many homeowners had to assume financial responsibility for their own dwellings. In light of this, national government offered 3m¥ but many local people complained this was not enough to rebuild a house.
7.
Assist municipalities with reconstruction planning through external experts.
8.
Promote employment of affected people through recovery and reconstruction investments under the ‘Japan is One’ project.
9.
Prioritise rehabilitation of key transport logistics infrastructure and revival of economic activities.
One year after the tsunami, 65,000 local people remained unemployed. Today, this figure remains way above average.
10. Open reconstruction to the world through active international cooperation and lesson sharing. 11. Create a special zone for reconstruction support local projects through flexible procedures and financing.
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INTERNATIONAL BOARDER
JCC
JAPAN NATION
BUDGET REQUEST
PRIVATE COMPANIES
AN
MINISTRY OF C
PLANNING - DEVELOPM
INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT UN - RED CROSS ETC....
CRISIS DONORS
POSTCRISIS RECON
JYLLANDS POSTEN
SHARED RESEARCH
TOHOKU
UNIVERSI DEPARTMENT O
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05 Appendix
C 2015 REGIONAL RECONSTRUCTION FFICES
NAL GOVERNMENT
CIITY COUNCIL HIGASHIMATSUSHIMA
NNUAL
REVIVAL CITY PLANNING DIVISION
SECURE BUDGET
REVIVAL POLICY DIVISION
CIITY COUNCIL ISHINOMAKI
CONSTRUCTION
SHARED RESEARCH
MENT - IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
NSTRUCTION AGENCY
NGOS HOPE N.P.O SENDAI ISHINOMAKI 2.0 YAPPESU
LOCAL BUSINESS
COMMUNITY
U UNIVERSITY
ITY OF TOKYO OF URBAN PLANNING
(app.13) Agency placing within reconstruction actor network; key to interviews. Higashimatsushima,
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Interview List For a copy of the full interbview transcripts, please contact: hannahlucywood@outlook.com (app.14) Project Leader, HOPE. Yuko Odaira 01.10.2015 “In reality, I think it can be argued that indeed the tsunami opened up Tohoku to the outside and to new situations, with many people entering the area to assist the reconstruction process and various budgets available to restore and renew businesses.” (app.15) Urban Design Lab, Tokyo. Christian Dimmer 12.10.2015 “The architect needs to ask the question - how to make a democratic design. Are the views of the community reflected or not? I think local residents should feel like they are part of a bigger thing (...) often a rushed response to rebuild did not leave time to participate” (app.16) Ministry for Construction, Tokyo. Fumie Tokunaga 28.10.2015 “The department is not involved directly in the local council’s reconstruction plan. If they wish to apply for financial support they must apply to us with projects. We therefore act as the control tower for financing and planning.” (app.17) Revival Policy Division Higashimatsushima (復興政策課). Yosuke Naito. 12.11.2015. Translation. “In order to ensure the budget of the project is met, each project is coordinated by the national government. It also takes charge of land acquisitions, at times conferring with landowners and residents.” (app.18) Revival City Planning Division Higashimatsushima (復興都市計画課). Hoshizawa Yui. 07.12.2015. Translation. “The aim is to recreate the lost city in a safe place. We do not envision only housing, but also to regain the lives of citizens in the community and our town.”
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05 Appendix
(app.19) Military residential blocks following construction adjacent to Route 45. photo: 1972.
(app.20) Military residential blocks date of construction: 1954.
(app.21) Government housing blocks following completion at Higashi-Yamoto.
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05 Appendix
(app.22) Higashimatsushima. District designations. Typological planning. 1995.
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(app.23) Military accommodation bordering Route 45, Higashimatsushima.
(4) (1)
(2)
(1) Soldiers (2) Low-level soldiers (3) High-level soldiers (4) Military plots
(3)
(app.24) Urban planning around Matsushima air base. Showing the restoration and construction of additional levees, addition of locks up the channel.
(app.25) 5 year development plan, 1936.
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05 Appendix
(app.26) Matsushima Air Base plan, 1969.
(app.27) Noise mitigation around Matsushima Air Base
(app.28) Baseball stadium plan (now an emerhency housing area).
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A. Nobiru North Hill District (2012 - 2017) 91.5 ha. land readjustment project. 278 private houses (9.1 ha.); 170 council houses (3.2 ha.)
B. Ushiami Residential Area (2012 - 2015) 4.5 ha. land development project. 74 private houses (2.6 ha.); 29 council houses (0.6 ha.)
C. Yamoto West Residential Area (2012 - 2015) 6.0 ha. land development project. 87 private houses (2.8 ha.); 87 council houses (2.8 ha.)
D. Higashiyamoto Station North Residential Area (2012 - 2016) 21.9 ha. land readjustment project. 273 private houses (8.6 ha.); 307 council houses (4.8 ha.)
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05 Appendix
Selected Bibliography + Further Reading Adams, Tim. Diagrams of Interface, or, Deleuze and Gauttari’s Legacy to Architects. (Der Architekt 9. Berlin. 2000). Bates, David. Catastrophe and Human Order: From Political Theology to Political Physiology. (UK: Ashgate, 2013). Benjamin, Andrew. Trauma within the walls: Notes Towards a Philosophy of the City. in: Architectural Design (London: Wley. Sept/ Oct 2010.) Eisenschmidt , Alexander. The City’s Architectural Project: From Formless City to Forms of Architecture. (AD vol. 82 issue 5. 2012). Editorial Commission of Higashimatsusnima, (矢本町史), The History of Yamoto-cho. (矢本町史 第一巻/矢本町史編纂委員会). (Sendai: Editions: 1973, 1974, 1976, 1986, 1988.) Latour, Bruno. The Berlin Key or How to Do Things With Words. in: Matter, Materiality and Modern Culture. (London: Routledge, 1991). & From Realpolitik to Dingpolitik – An Introduction to Making Things Public. in: Bruno Latour & Peter Weibel. Making Things Public – Atmospheres of Democracy. catalogue of the show at ZKM. (Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2004). Le Corbusier. The World City and Some Perhaps Untimely Considerations. (1929) in: Precisions on the Present State of Architecture and City Planning. MIT translation (Zurich: Park Books, 2015). Mitchell, Wiliam J. City of Bits: Space, Place and the Infobahn. (Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1996). Pilling, David. Bending Adversity: Japan and the Art of Survival. (UK: Penguin, 2014) Sassen, Saskia. Navigators for a Landscape of Estrangement. in: The Berlage Institute Report 6/7. (Holland: Episode Publishers, 2003). Scott Cohen, Preston . The Hidden Core of Architecture. in: Harvard Design Magazine. (issue 35 Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2012). Vale, Lawrence J; Campanella, Thomas J; The Resilient City: How Modern Cities Recover from Disaster. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004). Wall, Robert. The Need for Archinomics. in: L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui. (June – July 2010).
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Hannah Wood
Rektorparken 1 København 2450 hannahlucywood@outlook.com (+45) 31 62 50 72 As a designer, I consider engaging architecture as being underpinned by material and locality, defining place whilst maintaining a sculptural quality. Built from an understanding of detail and process, effective design can also hold the agency to empower people to enact upon their own lifestyles. Concepts of refurbishment, adaptive re-use and intervention form a narrative that runs throughout both my academic and built work. As a writer, the majority of my work to date is within the field of architectural journalism. I wrote for the Architects’ Journal in London during 2012 and I continue to contribute to a number of publications, including LOBBY. I plan to co-author a book chapter focussed on the covert aspects of Japan’s reconstruction project to be published by Routeledge next January. During 2014 I co-founded nomadic research collective Freiraum Kollektive alongside Katharina Manecke. Freiraum Kollektive aims to interrogate the boundaries of contemporary cultural theory by facilitating discussion between architects, educators and critical key voices which exist parallel to, but excluded from, traditional architectural discourses. Our most recent pan-Asian project, Mapping Architectural Resilience on the Silk Road, focuses on the ability for communities to regain vitality in the face of adversity through a series of propositional workshops, discussions and events. The project was exhibited in Copenhagen during winter 2015, in anticipation of a bilingual publication scheduled for September 2016. I founded Woodland Studio, a rural architecture design workshop, during 2013 and continue to accept a number of renovation projects in my home county of Yorkshire, England. Alongside my studies in Denmark, I am currently collaborating with EArchitecture (Emergency Architecture and Human Rights, Denmark) and have previously worked with the Palestine group of Arkitekter Uden Grænser (Architects Without Borders, Denmark).
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05 Appendix
Education MA Political Architecture : Critical Sustainability Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts 09.2014 BA (Hons) Architecture University of Sheffield First-class honours Stephen Welsh Prize 09.2009 - 06.2012 A-Level Crossley Heath School Art (A), Geography (A), Maths (A), Physics (A). Critical Thinking (A), General Studies (A). ............................
Union North Architectural Assistant 07.2008 Aedas Building Surveyors Surveying Assistant 05.2006 ............................ Published Work LOBBY Invisible Studio. 01.2016 Preparing for Apocalypse. 02.2015 Architects’ Journal For selected contributions see: www.architectsjournal.co.uk/hannah-wood/1201597.bio
Professional Experience Woodland Studio Founder, Architectural Designer 10.2013 -
University of Sheffield, School of Architecture Exhibition catalogue. 05.2012 ............................
Carmody Groarke Architectural Assistant 09.2012 - 09.2013
Volunteering Experience Freiraum Kollektive Co-founder 11.2014 -
Architects’ Journal Sustainability Reporter 06.2012 - 09.2012 University of Sheffield Digital Editor 05.2012 John Robertson Architects Architectural Assistant 07.2011 Calderdale Council Conservation Researcher 05.2011 - 07.2011 Robothams Architectural Assistant 08.2010
Arkitekter Uden Grænser Ramallah, Palæstina. Architectural Designer 10.2014 -10.2015 Volunteer Studio Open Space Project, Romania. Architectural Designer 06.2011 -09.2011 ............................ Technical Courses Welding Safety Uddannelsesbevis 26 Kunstakademiets Arkitektskole 03.2014
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Agricultural workers outline a site for development in Higashimatsishma. Image with permission from the Higashimatsushima Public Library, Miyagi.
“An abstract machine in itself is not physical or corporeal, any more than it is semiotic; it is diagrammatic (it knows nothing of the distinction between the artificial and the natural either). It operates by matter, not by substance; by function, not by form (. . .) a matter-content having only degrees of intensity, resistance, conductivity, heating, stretching, speed, or tardiness; and a function-expression having only tensors, as in a system of mathematical, or musical writing. Writing now functions on the same level as the real, and the real materially writes.�
WITH THANKS
............................................................ Jeffrey Matthew Angles . Alexa SJ Burke . Mark Emms (SSoA) . Alan Kadduri (CBS) . Kentaro Kohiri (Kohiri) . Aya Koyama (HOPE) . Katharina Manecke . Michele di Marco . Olympia Nouska . Yuko Odaira (HOPE) . Stefano Ponte (CBS) . Yoshiko Sakai (RDD) . Chiba Seishi (Kohiri) . Oguro Shoichi (Kohiri) Sachi Suzuki, (RAW) . Kohdai Tanaka . Fumie Tokunaga (TRA)
............................. Deleuze, G & F. Guattari. 1993. A Thousand Plateaus, Capitalism and Schizophrenia. trans. Brian Massumi. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press. 141.
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ROYAL DANISH ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS INSTITUTE FOR ARCHITECTURE AND CULTURE