About the Event
This year’s DIY + Design Workshop with Ishinomaki Lab finds inspiration from Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi. Noguchi was interested in how art and design (through woodworking and ceramic workshops) could foster “good will” within communities and engender faith in democracy.
Noguchi also explored design in the public realm, designing a number of public spaces where visitors could physically and actively engage with art through playgrounds and stand-alone play structures. While few were realized, Noguchi’s public works continue to inspire contemporary designers to consider play as a strategy for building community and stimulating creativity in the everyday.
Ishinomaki Lab, since its founding, has been concerned with how through DIY + Design, a community can not only recover and rebuild, but empower them as individuals to imagine and build better neighborhoods and cities. Two years ago, the Japan Foundation, Manila invited Ishinomaki Lab to Bohol, Philippines to conduct DIY + Design workshops with the fishing community affected by a devastating earthquake. Last year, they returned to Manila to work with the creative communities of Escolta and Kapitolyo on urban revitalization.
Keeping with its social mission, Ishinomaki Laboratory continues to hold DIY furniture-making workshops in Japan and around the world, with the goal of giving everyday people the tools to change their surroundings–and in turn their communities–through the idea of DIY. Expanding on Noguchi’s ideas, we hope to use the DIY + Design Workshops to discuss how creative labor can not only embrace activism, but explore it as a tool for creativity, community building, and civic engagement through the design of public architecture and spaces. This year’s program has been organized with our partners from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s Hub of Innovation for Inclusion, Habi Education, Artelano 11, Polygon, Makerspace Manila x Collective Restoration, and Prod.jx Artist Community.
Together, we are excited to continue engaging professionals from the creative industry, along with the next-generation of designers and architects through another round of workshops and events. We hope you’ll be able to join us at Artelano 11 for the Designers’ Talk on June 5 and the DIY + Design Exhibition on June 7. Both events are free and open to the public.
Ishinomaki Laboratory Explores Community Building and Civic Engagement