Thesis: Natsuko Nozaki

Thesis: Natsuko Nozaki

Otakufication of Disaster Relief

Disasters create acute versions of the existing culture, placing greater emphasis on the established cultural norms, while the disaster itself introduces new factors of stress. Post-disaster evacuation sites are seen to further emphasize these norms, at times the pressure to act in a prescribed way being a stressor itself. These are a form of a top-down force that are subconsciously informing how people must act, allowing for no space for people to deviate away from this. In evacuation site these include the rigid grid system used in the evacuation shelters that prescribe circulation designed based on statistics and idealized urban city conditions - both only looking at quantitative factors. Making these systems incompatible with rural sites that are often times more prone to disasters.

Within a top-down environment, we must look at the bottom up organization of otaku culture that allows for a separation to be created between the evacuees and the restrictions of the top-down system, allowing for better ways to cope with the stress of the disaster.

The semester ended with a design of an outdoor evacuation shelter that transformed from a 1.5 condition to an eventual temporary housing – a hinge unit that extends and makes additive facilities (bathroom) possible, for a maximum of two years. The greatest merit being it reduces the number of times evacuees need to move from different evacuation shelters.

Natsuko Nozaki
Natsuko Nozaki
“Otaku culture had been built on the foundation of the stable, yet suffocating ‘everydayness’ of Japanese society, the crisis of 3.11 may cause cracks to form in this foundation”

-Morikawa Kaichiro

“It is not unusual for people’s true natures, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of a society’s structure unseen in times of peace, to reveal themselves in a time of emergency. In the same way, one can argue that this extraordinary period has thrown the characteristics of our imaginations into sharp relief.”

-Uno Tsunehiro
Natsuko Nozaki
Otaku:

The word is borrowed directly from Japanese, and in English use tends to refer to a person who has hobby-related interests that might be regarded as obsessive, particularly in the fields of anime and manga. It is similar in some fashion to earlier senses of geek and nerd (there is a perception that otaku are single-minded enough in their pursuits that they avoid leaving the house), although many people feel that it has a far more negative connotation. Otaku are often perceived as a group to be possessed of poor social skills, although, as with many other aspects of the word, this perception is shifting.

(Merriam-Webster)
Natsuko Nozaki
The research and the thesis comes from the top-down meaning two aspects: the framework and system set up when a disaster happens, and the top-down cultural pressure specific to Japanese society. The pressure to act a certain way, would be interpreted as obedient or understanding by foreign media, while the evacuees themselves see this as a stressor where they have to act in a prescribed way, lacking the imagination to think independently. The homogeneity and repetitive nature of how people act were understood as something stemming from how the current evacuation shelters look and function as well. Another aspect was the aging crisis hitting Japan, and how a generation is facing a lonely death, often coming from being unaccounted for. This tense relationship of outward and inward expression becomes a theme for this thesis.
Natsuko Nozaki
Natsuko Nozaki
Inspiration was taken from Azuma Hiroki’s analysis of otaku culture as Database Animals, where individuals were interpreting narratives not by the storyline but by the individual components they deconstruct. And therefore separating these allows for the creation of simulacra, and thus an individual way of digesting a certain set narrative, meaning a disconnect between the grand narrative and an individual’s narrative.
Natsuko Nozaki
Analysis and comparison of existing shelters were taken as well, comparing living and sleeping areas.
Natsuko Nozaki
The site would be laid out in modular concrete panels, allowing for adjustment of size and area depending on the site conditions. Then, a unit that hinges out for living, sleeping, and cooking opens out. As time passes and funding and facilities become more available, a bathroom unit would be attached behind.
Natsuko Nozaki
The cluster system deviates away from the typical grid organization, allowing for tighter communities to be automatically created. The “front” of the unit face each other, naturally created an inward facing organization. Units are staggered to allow for the “back” to be visible from certain angles as well, allowing for evacuees to visibly take care of one another.
Natsuko Nozaki

Natsuko Nozaki

Natsuko Nozaki
Throughout the semester documentation was conducted creating a series of manga-style spreads to illustrate my observations.
Natsuko Nozaki

Natsuko Nozaki

Natsuko Nozaki

Natsuko Nozaki

Natsuko Nozaki

Natsuko Nozaki
Natsuko Nozaki

Natsuko Nozaki