Very successful ‘Ever After’ a workshop in Tokyo (online).
In these current times we all have a heightened awareness of how personal and public space allows for distance and movement. So we were keen to have the opportunity to participate in ‘Ever After’ a Summer Online Workshop, lecture and competition delivered this week from Tokyo.
These truly international events were led and organised by the innovative Japanese practice, Plug In Architecture Inc. and our own Duncan Baker Brown was one of the practitioners from all over the world to take part.
During the workshop a number of scenarios of adaptation, and invention of new lifestyle spaces for so-called ‘habitable furniture’ were proposed that help filter, adjust, or permit different types of mobility. The prototype constructions from the workshops will be showcased in October 2020 www.pia-lab.com
Eight teams of international architecture and design students from seven different countries collaborated on designs for new urban furniture for new conditions with playful social distancing as one of the a themes. To see some of the teams work please see further posts here on the blog.
PIA Lab, Ishinomaki Lab, and Tokyo University of Arts all collaborated to make the event a success and were supported by many fantastic lectures from members of the workshop scientific committee.
Special thanks went to Duncan Baker-Brown from our School of Architecture and Design. Thanks also went to Richard Ingersoll, Politecnico Di Milano, Syracuse University, Florence, Keiji Ashizawa -sensei, who shared his immense experience of Ishinomaki Lab design philosophy and made the workshop become a reality. Naoki Terada-sensei, who widened the vision into different scales and shared his Terada Mokei projects. Azzurra Muzzonigro and Emanuele Braga for their shared activist -architecture vision. Babis Makridis who shared his vision of the role of built environment and how people’s behaviour has changed in lock down cities. Professor Ali Bahadori, Keshan University Iran, for his vision of boundaries across country borders and for his special lecture.
Thanks also to Junpei-san and Kashimura-san for their lectures and to the many tutors who were there for all the workshops and their continuous support for the students online:
There are various “spaces” in our daily lives that need to be amended with flexible design interventions for socialization. From the scale of “territory”, “distance”, or “interval” between people and objects, a good design can guarantee calmness or comfort. The workshop asked how to simplify life through outdoor furniture for public areas. To learn more have a look at the PIA website.
Plug-in architects Inc. For further information contact lab@plug-in-architects.com.