Hasta La Ideas

After Japan’s 2011 earthquake, a group of volunteer designers led by architect Keiji Ashizawa wanted to pitch in for disaster relief in the affected areas. The collective gathered a bunch of tools and materials, then set up workshops to teach residents how to knock together simple DIY furniture that they could keep.

And an interesting thing happened: “These design-centered workshops, where DIY skills and ideas are shared, are still being run to this day,” writes Ishinomaki Laboratory, as the still-extant collective is called. (Herman Miller graciously pitched in with funding.)

The furniture, too, with its unapologetically DIY style, caught on. While workshop attendees can still learn to build the pieces for free, Ishinomaki Laboratory offers them for external sale as a way for non-residents to support their mission. Some examples:

Sky Deck Terrace Table

Designed by TORAFU ARCHITECTS

Tripodal Stool

Designed by Studio Adjective

Flamingo Stool with Footrest

Designed by Koichi Futatsumata

Carry Stool

Designed by Tomoko Azumi

Check out the full collection, which runs deep, here.