October 25, 2014 to January 4, 2015
Wednesday through Sunday, 11:00am - 6:00pm
The MAK Center for Art and Architecture
at the Schindler House
835 North Kings Road
West Hollywood, CA
The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 moved the main island of Japan 8 feet east and shifted the Earth on its axis by estimates of between 4 and 10 inches. The 40- foot-high tsunami that hit the shore 30 minutes later wiped out a 500-kilometer stretch of coastline, and caused the failure of the cooling system at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. More than 20,000 people died and 470,000 lost their homes. Four trains carrying 2,654 people traveling along the Miyagi coastline vanished without a trace.
The enormous destruction caused by the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami has been in urgent need of attention from creative and critical thinkers since the catastrophe struck in 2011. Under the auspices of the organization Archi+Aid, architects have taken on the challenge of strategizing reconstruction, calling upon key members of the profession to take a leadership role in re-imagining what the built environment should be. This exhibition presents a selection of architectural and artistic projects that provide a variety of ways for leaders, citizens, and communities to think through their domestic and urban space, and to consider their place on an ever-shifting planet.
Groundswell: Guerilla Architecture in Response to the Great East Japan Earthquake displays architecture in action. Frustrated by the slow and inept government response to this natural catastrophe, a number of architects took it upon themselves to address the trauma and rebuilding needs of area residents. Groundswell presents a number of their efforts as it engages the ongoing conversation of how architecture can serve communities following a natural disaster.
The exhibition features works by artist Hiroyasu Yamauchi, and architects Hitoshi Abe, Manabu Chiba, Momoyo Kaijima and Yoshiharu Tsukamoto (of Atelier Bow-Wow), Senhiko Nakata, Osamu Tsukhashi, and Riken Yamamoto.
Admission
General $7
Admission with guidebook $17
For additional details, visit MAKcenter.org
