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CRAFTING THE FUTURE: Tokyo and Japan 13-19 November 2011 Welcome to Japan Japan is a country long known for its precise craftsmanship. If someone refers to something as having a "Japanese quality", the meaning is often associated with diligence and sensitivity to detail. It is this character of Japanese culture that has created a distinct legacy of artistic culture, and has also helped Japan develop into a world leader in technology and industry. One may say the country has crafted its current position in our global society. Now, Japan faces a truly daunting task of crafting the future of its own society. The country had been, for some time, already experiencing the malaise of a mature society, such as the aging demography, the outdated export-oriented economic model, and the dysfunctional governing system predisposed to avert strong leadership and constructive policy debates. The Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami devastation of March 11th this year, then, gave literally a huge shock to the country, impacting the lives of many, transforming the collective values in society, and applying a great stress to businesses even outside the directly affected areas. The resilience and perseverance of the Japanese, however, may be starting to take hold of the long road to rebuilding the Tohoku (northeastern) region as well as to reinventing the way the country defines itself. Is Japan on its track to craft the way out of the somewhat chronic decrepitude further weakened by a debilitating blow, into a better and sustainable future? It is in this context we wish to highlight, in the 2011 NWPR and COD Convention, our theme of "Crafting the Future". The theme is appropriate not only to Japan, but also to communities dealing with a similar set of problems in different parts of the world. More broadly, it pertains to the global community facing urgent issues of global warming and flailing economy, and occasionally set back by devastating natural disasters like earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes and tsunamis, which all affect what we design and how we deliver it in our professional lives. By looking at this craft of innovation and ingenuity, we would like you to see how Japan, a witness of natural and man-made devastation, and a country of little of its own natural resources, perceives its own future and, in a Japanese way, addresses possible solutions. We believe there is much to be learned, from historical methods and styles of construction to free form-making bound only by the reality of fabrication, from the harmonious coexistence with Nature to a religious zeal towards mechanization of everything, and from wisdom of countering the effects of earthquakes and tsunamis to the humble acceptance of defeat and failure. What you find during your visit will inspire you in many ways, and help you find your own way towards the future. This conference is positioned, hopefully, to provide the opportunity for us architects to reflect on our possible roles and responsibilities in the task of crafting the future, the future we would like to hand over to the next generation and beyond. Hisaya Sugiyama, AIA Anne Schopf, FAIA, 2011 Chair, AIA Committee on Design
Conference Welcome
Conference Overview AIA Japan and Committee on Design welcome you to the 2011 Joint Conference of AIA Northwest & Pacific Region and AIA Committee on Design. It is a conference in two parts; one can register for either or both parts. It is open to any AIA member, their spouses, partners, children, and anyone who may be interested in our theme, "Crafting the Future". For those concerned about personal safety, the life has, for most part, returned to normal in Tokyo and the central region of the country, where the Part II will take place. Please see the box below for more detail. November is one of the best times of the year to visit Japan; with the air cool and crisp, the weather tends to be dry, and beautiful foliage is starting to color in the mountain regions. We hope everyone who is interested will be here for this chance to see and taste Japan, to learn and enjoy its culture, and to engage with each other, while taking advantage of this conference designed to be fun and informative to architects and like-minded individuals. Travel Safety Monitoring The damaged nuclear reactors at Fukushima Daiichi have been kept under control with several phases of cooling device installations. While it will take a few more months to bring the reactors to a cold-shutdown, officials do not expect any further uncontrolled deterioration of conditions. The US Department of State assesses the risk of travelling outside the 50-mile radius of the plants to be sufficiently low. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_5454.html Along with several national agencies, prefectural and municipal governments have started to monitor residual radioactivity levels at thousands of locations, which reveal that, except in areas of immediate vicinity (approx. 60 km or 38 miles) of the reactors, the readings have been back to normal for months now. The daily data in Tokyo (approx. 220 km or 137 miles) are available through the link below. The levels prior to 3/11 was between 0.028 and 0.079 microgray / hr at this location (Tokyo City Hall). http://monitoring.tokyo-eiken.go.jp/monitoring/past_data.html Farm and fishery products are also monitored extensively with a belief that the more transparency is given, the more consumer confidence is won. For most people outside Fukushima, it is safe to say that there is no physiological effect of the nuclear accident today. Part I - Tokyo AIA Northwest & Pacific Region Conference We put emphasis on providing numerous tour options throughout the conference. There will be ample opportunities to see neighborhoods with distinct characteristics, to a degree, reflective of the values of the society. There will be visits to buildings in and around Tokyo, from icons of the past to the most contemporary designs, as testament to the very rich history of Japanese Architecture. There will certainly be a chance to see how the tradition of craft permeates all aspects of life here, as in the food preparation, streetscape, fine arts, product design, and the character of Japanese people themselves. For those interested in Japan, its culture, lifestyle, urbanism, and of course architecture, this is the perfect opportunity to make the trip. The program is packed with interesting sites and events geared towards architects and designers, so visitors can experience the essence of Japan with ease and efficiency. Our keynote lecture features 2011 AIA Gold Medal recipient, Mr. Fumihiko Maki, HFAIA, with an introduction by Dr. Masami Kobayashi, Professor of Architecture at Meiji University. The Region Design Award Banquet will be held at the recently opened hotel designed by Mr. Kengo Kuma, HFAIA, with his attendance scheduled. He is one of the distinguished jurors for the Design Awards along with Mr. John Carney, FAIA, of Jackson, Wyoming and Mr. Carlos Jimėnez of Houston, Texas. Award winners were selected out of over 140 submittals from every corner of the Northwest & Pacific Region. Please note that this Banquet as well as the Welcome Reception are included in the Part I registration fee (additional tickets for those who wish to attend without registering for the rest of the conference are also available for a nominal fee). 1) Registration includes lunches for Monday and Tuesday, dinner for Sunday (Welcome Reception) and Tuesday (Award Banquet), as well as breakfast on Wednesday. 2) There is a $100 discount for a spouse or a family member if registering together (for Part I only). 3) The conference base will be at ANA International Hotel - Ark Hills. 4) There are five neighborhood hotels listed with reduced rates for the conference, which can be booked through KNT - see Housing / Travel section. Part Two - Nagoya, Takayama & Kanazawa AIA Committee on Design Conference Japan since the mid-19th century has undergone radical transformations of modernization and westernization in its rise to become a leading nation in the world, especially in terms of architecture. Building on the legacy of traditional guilds, the craft of construction continues to be at the cutting edge enabling the realization of projects almost unimaginable anywhere else. After three days in Tokyo as part of the AIA NWPR conference, the AIA COD Japan Conference will travel by Bullet Train from Tokyo to Nagoya, and will stay at the JR Central Towers (Nagoya Station), mega-structural complex (KPF, 1991-1999) with views of both Nagoya Castle and the 170-meter high-rise vocational school: Mode Gakuen Spiral Towers (Nikken Sekkei, 2008). The conference will continue with visits to Meiji Mura, home of the lobby of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Imperial Hotel (1923) noted for withstanding the devastating forces of the 1923 Earthquake but succumbing to subsequent real estate development. In complement, the masterful dynamics of contemporary seismic construction will be seen in the hung galleries of Arata Isozaki’s Museum of Ceramic Art (1996-2002). After a restful stay and banquet at a traditional Japanese hot springs resort in the mountain resort Gero, the Japanese mastery of post-and-beam construction and wood joinery will be seen in the traditional merchant houses preserved in the mountain area of Takayama, as well as the steep pitched thatched farmhouses at Hida Takayama praised by Bruno Taut. Finally touring of the Japanese mountainscapes will be complemented by a visit to the castle town Kanazawa on the Japan Sea. After visiting the Kenrokuen Garden, considered to be one of the three best in Japan, the tour will conclude with a special visit and closing reception at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, the glazed masterwork of Pritzker winning architects SANAA. Registration for Part II will include transportation from Tokyo to Kanazawa, and lunches Wednesday to Saturday, dinner on Thursday, and breakfast Thursday to Sunday. The registration rates vary depending on the type of accommodation (double or single occupancy). (Detailed program descriptions for both Part I and Part II can be found in the Program of this website. Please note that the itinerary is subject to change.) |
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Conference Sponsors
Silver Partners
Patron Partners • Cassina • Chelsea International • Dinaone • DTZ • Figla Glass • Fuji Sash • Kenedix • Mitsui Fudosan • Nihon Denki Kagaku • Nisshin Kogyo • Nuno Corporation • Touchstone
Final Schedule – NWPR Awards Banquet Registration (Closed) Housing (11/11-11/16) Travel The bus will take you from Narita airport to ANA InterContinental Hotel. As you can see in the web above, the price for one-way is 3,000JPY, and you can purchase it upon arrival at airport counter. (*Advance booking cannot be made from airport to hotel)
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