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Our custom designed AIA tote bags perfectly embodies our Conference Theme: Crafting the Future. Japan has a culture and tradition where craft and attention to detail is precise. Walking through the capital city of Tokyo, one can notice that the sidewalk lines intersect at perfect 90 degree angles to the vertical wall lines. So much thought was put into construction, presentation and execution. Our conference tote bags were no exception in this precise craft thinking.
These 160+ tote bags I’m sure will someday be collector’s items. They will be displayed in a museum much like the artifacts of 1960’s World Design Conference that led to the formation of the Metabolists. Fumihiko Maki, FAIA, one of the original Metabolist architects, and our Crafting the Future conference keynote speaker helped us see the 1960’s connections to architect-led urban movement exhibit at the Mori Art Museum entitled: Metabolism: The City of the Future (September 15, 2011 thru January 15, 2012). A big thank you is owed to Nicolai Kruger of AIA Japan who choreographed a team comprised of Nuno Corporation and Chelsea International to help craft our conference tote bags. During the November 13, 2011 welcoming at the Ark Hills Cafe, a short presentation was shown to explain the process. To craft the future, as with any project, care and experimentation are the materials to manipulate.
Construction: Notice how all the bags are different colors? This is because the fabric used for the bags were donated from Chelsea International who sourced and donated 200+ meters of remnant upholstery fabric. Sustainability is part of crafting our future.
Presentation: Notice how there is no text on the tote bags? There was just a little red tag that marked these bags with the date of the AIA Japan, the Northwest and Pacific Region, and the Committee on Design conference and tour. Creative reuse also framed our conference.
Execution: The night before the AIA conference was going to officially start, our 2011 COD Chair, Ann Schopf, FAIA and AIA Japan president, Hisaya Sugiyama, AIA organized volunteers arrived early to finish organizing the last minute details. At that point a number of us helped to move the boxes of tote bags filled with our papers, maps, and agendas into the ANA InterContinental Hotel. I snapped this picture of Nicolai Kruger and Jim Lambiasi, of AIA Japan with all the conference tote bags. I will treasure my tote bag as it connects me to my new friends and adventures with the AIA Committee on Design and AIA Japan.
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