an excercise in uncertainty / Tohoku / Japan
After Landscape II - an exercise in uncertainty In June 2014 a group of RMIT Landscape Architecture and Architecture students travelled to Japan and worked of reconstruction plans in Tokyo and Kesennuma. Through questioning current re-building strategies that display a strong infrastructure focus, the team researched site and its context through emerging vegetation, traces of past uses, topography relations, materiality in ruins and evacuation pathways. The full immersion allowed for concrete and ephemeral qualities to be experienced and individual research projects formed that have started to consider alternative design strategies that consider time scales, system failures and are built on a premise of adaptation to dynamic conditions in a socio-economic context. Individual research into contemporary Architecture practice included office visits in Japan, site tours led by experts and volunteers as well as lectures by Tokyo University academics. The intensive phase in Japan culminated in a two day exhibition in a decommissioned Sento -Public Bathhouse- in Minami-Senju. The work in the studio is affecting the world. Previous studio works have been published in small books and the work has affected change in Japan in empowering communities. Building on work of the 2012 After Landscape studio, a Australia-Japan Foundation grant in 2013 and the current studio, a book publication will be produced by the dynamic landscapes research lab in 2015.
Kesennuma, Topography and innundation areas
Kesennuma, Naiwan area, Summer 2014
Kesennuma, Summer 2014
RMIT Students with Mr Kato and Mrs Kato of Hotel Boyo, Kesennuma 2014
Kesennuma Land Readjustment, 2014
Shibitachi, Summer 2012 RMIT Studio, Suzuki Shintaro, Ito Kaori
Kesennuma, Summer 2014
Kesennuma Land Readjustment, 2014 In Kesennuma, two main reconstruction operations are currently underway: raising of land and construction of seawalls. The land in Kesennuma’s Shishiori area is raised between 5 and 8 meters. A seawall of a height between 4m and 9m is planned for the Naiwan area. Position and height of the seawall is currently subject to debate between local community and government. No resolution has been reached yet.
Kesennuma Land Readjustment, 2014
2013 Seawall plan for Fujihama
2013 New Breakwater for Kamaishi
2013 Building higer ground, Kamaishi
Workshop RMIT and Waseda University, Hotel Boyo, Kesennuma 2014
Kesennuma seawall, height 12.5m
Rikuzentakada conveyorbelt system: the system is in place to transport soil form a mountain to the valley to raise land to heights between 8m and 11m. The soil transport will decrease the mountain from a height of 120m to 50m.
after landscape II 2014
Marieluise Jonas, RMIT University Toshihiko Abe, Waseda University Christian Dimmer, Tokyo University Critics + Contributors Hiroshi Naito Yu Nakai Shigemitsu Ebie Satoru Nagayama Heike Rahmann Gretchen Wilkins Dongsei Kim Students Holly McNaught Ariel Hu Robert Williamson Martin Woodbyrne Yiran Kasey Sun Tom Adolph Sandra Seles Rebecca Di Giacomo Jean Marie Spencer Yusuke Yamazaki
T.P. + 9.9m
an excercise in uncertainty / Tohoku / Japan