We have acquired valuable experience at Atsuma town in September 22nd and 23rd.
Responded to the call from Shigeru Ban’s office, six members of our lab joined in the volunteer team to support composing shelter partitions in the earthquake-stricken area.
In this activity, we learned the whole working mechanism of the cardboard tube partition and participated in every procedure of it.
The procedures of the partition setting system are clearly divided into two phases: the first-phase is preparation, and the second phase is assembling materials. In each phase, volunteers were grouped according to different types of work.Three types in preparation phase are as follows: 1. punching and cutting columns, beams and junctions in specific modules by using template papers for the assist; 2. drilling appropriate holes on columns for inserting beams through them; 3. cutting cloth for making partition curtains. A big advantage of this phase is that all preparing work can be conducted at the same time efficiently, which saved time greatly.
Two types in the second phase are assembling structures and making curtains simply by clips. In this phase, length and width of structures can be adjusted flexibly according to different sleeping areas due to the method of connecting beams and junctions. It impressed me a lot. The whole s mechanism is clearly divided and easy to get started. After explanation and demonstration, volunteers grasped the points quickly and got into work immediately. I guess that’s one of the reasons why Shigeru Ban can conduct it efficiently in many places. Finally, we completed all work for six evacuation sites earlier than we expected. We also felt closer to each lab member after working hard together.
D2 Huang