Kanto Journal 3 Volume 2 2017

Hello! Please introduce yourself.
Hi! My name is Takahiro Chiba, and I am the workshop leader and one of
two managing directors at Ishinomaki Laboratory.
What is Ishinomaki Lab, and how did it come to be?
Ishinomaki Laboratory is a furniture workshop that draws on
the skills and spirit of DIY. Founded in 2011, the workshop was set up
in the coastal area of Ishinomaki, Miyagi, which was devastated by the
tsunami triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake. In the beginning,
Ishinomaki Laboratory began as a community space where residents in
the disaster area could freely access materials and tools—as provided by
designers and volunteers led by Tokyo-based architect Keiji Ashizawa—in
order to conduct their own repair work.
Above: The Ishinomaki Lab workshop.
Photography by Chang Kim
Opposite page, from top:
Workshop leader and managing
partner, Takahiro Chiba; Ishinomaki
Lab founder Keiji Ashizawa (second
from right) and workshop participants
take a breather in Kapitolyo, Pasig
Photography by Jar Concengco
What is the initiative's end goal? Would you say that you are still
working for, or have exceeded what you set out to accomplish?
One central, overarching mission of ours is to spread the spirit
of DIY and design throughout the world. Our experience running the
laboratory revealed two major learnings: the importance of DIY as a
necessary survival skill after a disaster, and of the potential and added value
design brings in helping uplift and improve lives. In order to accomplish
our goals however, we need to push forward and keep growing
Ishinomaki Laboratory so that it becomes a more sustainable business.
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