ITO Toyo-o got involved in rebuilding Tohoku

sendai mediatheque model for competition
displayed at TIMA 

ITO's Sendai Mediatheque suffered from the earthquake on March 11, 2011 that devastated and affected the Tohoku and many parts of eastern Japan. The facility had to be repaired and closed for two months but is back in shape and people are gathering again. 

At one of the shelters for the earthquake-affected in Sendai, a "Home-for-All" he designed was built. People planted flowers there, a man made a wooden box to keep logs for the fireplace installed in the Home, and necessary utensils were brought in. They are making it their true communal place where they can feel at ease, meet each other, have a cup of tea, or do some activities. The Home-for-All is a living room for communication.

In April 2011, ITO Toyo-o was asked to join the effort of conceiving the vision for new Kamaishi. It would be a daring challenge to transform the earthquake and tsumami-stricken city to where people feel protected, mentally and physically, from any devastating damage by possible tsunami in the future.

In hilly Kamaishi, the flat area suitable for residence was limited and that small area of land was wiped out by the tsunami on March 11, 2011. In addition to the devastation caused by the natural disaster, the city has been confronted with falling and aging population caused by the declining steel making industry which the city’s economy relied on. The city’s rehabilitation, ITO believed, should not be to restore the city as it was but to solve constructively the inherent issues the city had to fight back.

He was a busy man, working on 20 some projects when he was asked to pitch in but felt urged and took the job because for one thing he wanted to find the answer to his own question: are the architects needed by the society? At the age of 70, he got determined to ask himself if his “architecture” was really architecture.

On December 18, 2011, ITO presented the people of Kamaishi his idea for new-born Kamaishi. He thought of the traditional Gassho-zukuri A-frame collective housings standing at the foot of the hills. Nearby lies the city hall which does not stand out but blends with the other houses and whole scenery. With his architecture, he intended to design the community where people can naturally form bond, be proud of the character of their city and feel like showing it off to others; then the city would attract more people and invigorate itself as a result.

You need hope to go on. ITO’s architecture has to be a source of hope.