Kuma Words 3
Kuma Words 3
Soon after the Great East Japan Earthquake, we organized a project called EJP (Eastern Japan Products), supporting local craftsmen in the Tohoku region by promoting their work throughout the rest of Japan. Following this, a series of reconstruction projects in Minami Sanriku was launched. The town of Minami Sanriku was swept away in an instant by the 3.11 Tsunami, so the area was raised in preparation for any future tsunamis. We were very concerned about how we could bring some humanness to this new artificial ground and make it approachable once again.
Our answer was to use a kind of nostalgic and “noisy” architectural vocabulary that includes a conventional gabled roof, inexpensive corrugated plastic and Engawa, with shop curtains designed by Chie Morimoto. This lively and noisy vocabulary has been thoroughly developed in our project of Tetchan Yakiroti bars.
I must tell you about another disaster area, as well. Kumamoto prefecture in Kyushu was seriously damaged last year by big earthquakes. At Hitoyoshi Kuma, known as the unexplored utopian region in Kumamoto, we started a project with young people in the region. The first scheme was a wooden planter box developed during a competition for high school students, for which I was a judge.
東日本大震災の後、まずEJPと呼ばれる、東北の地元職人を元気づけるプロダクトのコラボのプロジェクトをはじめ、その後、南三陸町の一連のプロジェクトがスタートしました。街が一瞬にして消え失せ、未来の津波に備えて、土が盛られて新しい地面ができました。この新しい人工的地面にどのようにして人間的なぬくもりを与えられるかを、必死で考えました。
在来木造の切妻屋根、プラスチックのチープな波板で作った「下屋」「縁側」そして、森本千絵のにぎやかなノレン。そういう懐かしくてノイジーなヴォキャブラリーにたどりつきました。
ノイジーなヴォキャブラリーの実験は、てっちゃんの一連のプロジェクトです。
同じく被災地である熊本では、桃源郷、秘境として知られる人吉球磨の一連のプロジェクトがはじまりました。第一弾は、僕が審査員として選んだ、木製プラントボックスです。