Decide a model area
Decide which districts to represent with scale models.
“Lost Homes”Scale Model Making Project
Condolences on towns and a step forward a reconstruction
The Great East Japan Earthquake destroyed many towns and villages in seconds at the coastal area of the Pacific Ocean in Tohoku area, Japan on March 11, 2011.
“Lost Homes”, a scale model reconstruction project, aims at restoring lost towns and villages by 1:500 scale models in order to inherit and preserve memories accumulated in local scenery, environment and life.
Volunteer architecture students throughout Japan who study architecture and urban design make the models. The activities are motivated by determination to understand what were lost in the disaster and condolences on the vanished towns which were once full of everyday lives. We make scale models to represent the lost towns which existed on the land before. With the models, people chat about their hometowns and lives to remember their memories of towns. We determine to continue the activities hoping exchanges between victims and us would help a step forward a revitalization of local towns.
Process
Making 1/500 scale models
Volunteer students make white scale models to represent towns, referring documents such as aerial photographs.
“Town of Memories” Workshop
Towns are made of memories
“Town of Memories Workshop” aims at constructing models of “Town of Memories” with memories of victims of the disaster.
Bringing white scale models made by volunteer students at venues of workshop, we ask local participants of the workshop about the memories they remember by seeing the models. Then, we describe their memories on the models.
Remarks on memories about towns, told by the participants through the models, are registered as “tweets”, which turn out to be “Memory Flags” and add colors on the models. The scenery of a town of memories gradually appears on the models by the colors, trees and monuments. Participants collaborate the activities with the volunteer students, and leave some comments on the models. The models make the locals remember the lost sceneries with a variety of memories, which do not appear on maps.
Process
Presenting the memories on models
Showing scale models at venues. Registering and writing memories collected from local participants on the white scale models.
Coloring the models according as the memories
Painting the white scale models as the locals describe.