Empathic Architecture: Digital Fabrication and Community Participation
This paper examines a new construction method in engineered wood material, including plywood and LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber), using computer numerically controlled routers to build simple buildings in a quick and inexpensive way. With the method elabora
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Abstract This paper examines a new construction method in engineered wood material, including plywood and LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber), using computer numerically controlled routers to build simple buildings in a quick and inexpensive way. With the method elaborate on here, there is no need to use skilled labor or sophisticated construction equipment. It provides an effective way of rebuilding in the wake of natural disasters. The primary innovations of this method are in ease of construction and transportation by using flat, portable, and durable engineered wood products, application of the traditional wisdom in wooden carpentry, and the efficiency of digital fabrication technology. In the case of disaster relief, using this construction process as a method of organizing community is essential for successful implementation. The experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in March, 2011 in north-east Japan highlights the importance of bringing both technical and social skills to disaster reconstruction. Keywords Empathy · Ethics · Engineered wood · CNC machine Public participation · Mutually-built · Self-built · Disaster reconstruction Inclusivity
1 Introduction In the last two decades we have been facing significant difficulties in maintaining ‘ordinary’ and peaceful order of our lives, socially and spatially. Natural disaster, terrorism, large scale migration, and other unpredictable issues have made it increasingly difficult to foresee the future form of architecture or the city. Instead of planning decades into the future, we have to be prepared to adapt to what is happening in front H. Kobayashi (B) Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Fujisawa, Japan e-mail: [email protected] D. O’Keefe Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 F. Bianconi and M. Filippucci (eds.), Digital Wood Design, Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering 24, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03676-8_43
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of us at any moment, and react to new realities spontaneously. We cannot give up trying to improve our future, and yet we have to accept the inevitability of drastic change. Being resolved to adapt to these unpredictable changes, and revise our own idea of what is ‘normal,’ we also have to ask ourselves: what constitutes contentment in life? What kind of life goals would we like to pursue collectively; and, how can we make them happen? Now, we are facing a time in history in which individuals, more than groups, are starting to express their hopes explicitly. In daily life, and increasingly through the internet and social media, we express our ideas for our better lives, and our individual desires. But in order to create a coherent response to the challenges ahead, we must also recover an ability to hope and act collectively. Unfortunately, it seems that many of the conventional channels for collective action are narrowing, in recent times. Political participation has been decreasing in many developed countri
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