kazuyo sejima: 311 starting over from point zero

kazuyo sejima giving a presentation at the symposium ‘311: starting over from point zero’ image © designboom

designboom attended the symposium ‘311: starting over from point zero‘, held on november 2nd, 2011 at the university of tokyo. coinciding with the 311: lost homes exhibition at the TOTO gallery ma, where a group of prominent japanese architects lectured about ‘reborn: the potential of architecture’, moderated by hiroshi naito.

kazuyo sejima spoke of her personal story when she visited miyatojima island in higashimatsushima, miyagi prefecture. the community of  approximately 1000 was devastated by the tsunami last march (2011) which flooded three of the four major beaches. after meeting with the residents she was astonished to learn that the main members, mostly fishermen, had organized themselves along with specialists, to discuss the future of their island. once her staff had constructed a model of the area, they were able to create additional awareness for the project and engage with new members of the community.

see designboom’s original coverage of the event here.

video © designboom

yasuda auditorium on the university of tokyo campusimage © designboom

‘things are still not going well and the future is still uncertain. however, I would like to propose something which leads them to a better future.’ kazuyo sejima

(from left to right) hiroshi naito, kazuyo sejima, kengo kuma, toyo ito and riken yamamoto image © designboom

sketch of the islandimage courtesy of kazuyo sejima photographed by designboom

community discussion of the future settlement  image courtesy of kazuyo sejima photographed by designboom

presentation of model to community members image courtesy of kazuyo sejima photographed by designboom