Catching Up with Home-for-All

John Hill

11. de març 2015

Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA: Home-for-All in Tsukihama, Miyatojima (All photos are courtesy of Home-for-All)

Four years after the earthquake and tsunami that hit the eastern coast of Japan, we take a look at some of the buildings completed under the Home-for-All program started by architect Toyo Ito in response to the disaster.

We first learned about Ito's project in 2012, when Home-for-All was the theme of the Japan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and the winner of the Golden Lion for best national pavilion.

To date, eleven community centers have opened, most recently an indoor playground for children in Soma, Fukushima, designed by Toyo Ito with Klein Dytham Architecture. Other architects, who have been working pro bono on the commissions, include Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA, Sou Fujimoto and Riken Yamamoto.

Considering the scale of the destruction and the size of the nearly dozen buildings completed, it's no wonder that the Home-for-All website indicates, "operational burden of running the centers is getting heavier and heavier." This state of affairs has led the architects to establish a single Home-for-All NPO (non-profit organization), in lieu of teaming up with NPOs, sponsoring organizations or local residential associations on the individual projects, as was the case previously.

Setting aside issues of management, it's clear from the projects highlighted below that the architects are not "phoning it in," if you will. Their designs are refreshing, giving residents places to come together and "recover a new life," as Home-for-All aims to do.

Home-for-All in Soma
Toyo Ito & Associates and Klein Dytham Architecture
February 2015

Toyo Ito & Associates and Klein Dytham Architecture: Home-for-All in Soma

Home-for-All in Tsukihama, Miyatojima
Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA
July 2014

Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA: Home-for-All in Tsukihama, Miyatojima

Square for all in Kamaishi
Toyo Ito & Associates
April 2014

Home-for-All in Oya, Kesennuma
Yang Zhao, Kazuyo Sejima (Advisor), Masanori Watase (Local architect)
October 2013

Home-for-All in Rikuzentakata
Toyo Ito & Associates, Office of Kumiko Inui, Sou Fujimoto Architects and Akihisa Hirata Architecture Office
November 2012