ArchiAid: Rethinking-Reconstruction

The Great East Japan Earthquake


Opening: Friday, October 25, 2013 6:30pm
Exhibition: October 25 till November 28, 2013
Discussion: Friday, October 25, 2013 4:30pm
Location: Aedes Am Pfefferberg, Christinenstraße 18-19, 10119 Berlin
Opening Hours: Tuesday-Friday 11:00am-6:30pm, Saturday-Sunday 1:00pm-5:00pm

In the two and a half years that have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake, it is a relevant moment to examine the progress of reconstruction efforts to date. This exhibition will take a critical look at the reconstruction and recovery efforts by presenting the work of ArchiAid: a reconstruction support network of Japanese architects formed in response to the wide-ranging style of official recovery strategies that are essential for the long-term stability of the population. ArchiAid is connecting the diverse reconstruction activities of these autonomous and decentralized architects, offers effective methods for rebuilding the region, as well as a new means for architects to engage with society.

Welcome:
Dr. h.c. Kristin Feireiss, Aedes
Takayuki Miyashita, Minister, Embassy of Japan
Prof. Hitoshi Abe, University of California Los Angeles


Invitation to Public Debate on the occasion of the exhibition opening:

ArchiAid: The Great East Japan Earthquake Recovery Program
Architects between Society, Design and Politics


Time: Friday, October 25, 4:30pm
Place: ANCB, Christinenstr. 18/19, 10119 Berlin

The dialogue will focus the challenge of the architecture profession to connect and moderate between technical, governmental conditions and cultural behavior related to environmental needs. Architecture and urbanism lead not only to a restructure of landscape and the built environment but also modify how they are experienced. It is therefore a matter of understanding what impact disasters have on architectural thinking and acting in comparison to changes in the cultural perspective of the relationship of nature and technology. Such changes can be understood only with respect to their social and political contexts. If architecture is about social dreams of a society and hopes for a better future - then one has to become aware of the global dimensions of disasters between modernization and the boundaries of human knowledge. The challenge of architecture and urban planning lies in these contradictory preconditions. What does it mean for architects to design in a society that seeks its balance between an increasing technologization at the one hand, and a deepening environmental awareness on the other?

Welcome
- Hans-Jürgen Commerell, Director, ANCB The Metropolitan Laboratory, Berlin

Speakers - The Japanese architects involved in ArchiAid
- Hitoshi Abe
- Kazuhiro Kojima
- Manabu Chiba
- Senhiko Nakata
- Osamu Tsukihashi

Moderator
- Georg Vrachliotis, Chair of Architectural Theory, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Admission is free. Please register at reply∂aedes-network-campus.de. We look forward to welcoming you.


The Debate is part of the ANCB program “Phoenix Reloaded: Rethinking Disaster Responses and Preparedness”.