Berkeley Elementary School Students Respond to Architecture of Life

After an earthquake devastated the town of Rikuzentakata, Japanese architect Toyo Ito and three of his colleagues went to work designing a house that could not only revitalize the town, but that could be applicable in similar situations all over the world—thinking of architecture as a social tool, as a place where people can gather. They created study models of different designs for this house, dubbed “Home-for-All.” The BAMPFA exhibition Architecture of Life includes five of these models, including one of the home that was actually constructed in Rikuzentakata.

Students in an afterschool enrichment class at Berkeley’s Jefferson Elementary were inspired by these models, fascinated by the idea of creating structures that would serve as homes and meeting places after a natural disaster. So they made models of their own versions of “Home-for-All,” using 3,000 chopsticks!

Here are some of their amazing creations: