Since the March 11, 2011, earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan last year, a number of efforts have been undertaken at MIT's School of Architecture + Planning to help with reconstruction efforts. The series of studios and workshops are a part of the MIT Japan 3/11 Initiative, a response to the disaster that facilitates collaboration between MIT and Japanese universities for the study and implementation of disaster-resilient planning.
So far, the Initiative has been focused primarily on the short- and long-term needs of Minami Sanriku, a hilly coastal town with 27 individual villages that was home to about 10,000 people and was one of the hardest hit by the 9.0 earthquake and the tsunami that followed. Today only traces of these towns remain: the lowland area, once a bustling zone of fisheries, commerce and housing, now lies flattened to its base, marked by mounds of debris and rubble.
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So far, the Initiative has been focused primarily on the short- and long-term needs of Minami Sanriku, a hilly coastal town with 27 individual villages that was home to about 10,000 people and was one of the hardest hit by the 9.0 earthquake and the tsunami that followed. Today only traces of these towns remain: the lowland area, once a bustling zone of fisheries, commerce and housing, now lies flattened to its base, marked by mounds of debris and rubble.
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