[ASIBA Class Report] Week 6 'Towards ASIBA FES 2024'

ASIBA, a general incorporated association, plans and operates short-term, hands-on incubation programs and one-day workshops for students in the fields of architecture and urban planning. We aim to create an environment where architecture students can take ownership of their projects and bring their own proposals to life, thereby expanding the possibilities of architecture and urban planning.

Like the program in Week 2, the Week 6 program was held at the goodoffice Shimbashi (Hori Building) space, with the cooperation of Takenaka Corporation. We would like to thank everyone at Takenaka Corporation for their support.

ASIBA FES 2024

Following a stimulating and fruitful mid-program retreat for the ASIBA Phase 2 teams—which further strengthened team cohesion and the desire for mutual learning—we entered the sixth week of the ASIBA Phase 2 Incubation Program.This week began with an overview of “ASIBA FES 2024,” the culminating event of the Phase 2 program. Having passed the halfway point since the program began in April, the conference event—which initially seemed far off—is now just around the corner.

So, what kind of event is “ASIBA FES 2024”?

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ASIBA FES 2024 aims to share the unique “perspectives” of the second cohort (architecture students) with society. At this event, students studying architecture will passionately discuss and express the world as they see it, the values they cherish, and the future they envision. As I’ve written many times before, the second cohort of the ASIBA Incubation Program has placed great importance on the questions, “What is my vision and what questions do I have?” and “Why am I doing this?”“ASIBA” recognizes the value and appeal of architecture students’ “perspectives and imagination” and is committed to sharing them with society. While ASIBA itself is still in the process of testing hypotheses, we hope to express “Questions, Visions, and Myself” through this event.

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In addition to the final pitch, where we’ll speak in front of an audience of over 100 people, we’re planning a booth area where each project will showcase their work, as well as talk sessions and workshops led by ASIBA members alongside peers and guests.

Let’s draw the festival floor plan together!

Just as we did for the first ASIBA Incubation cohort, this conference event will be held at NOVARE, Shimizu Corporation’s innovation facility. We’d like to extend our sincere thanks to everyone at Shimizu Corporation for their cooperation.

For ASIBA FES 2024, we’re starting by designing the venue as a space for the second-cohort members to express themselves. So, during this session, we held a workshop where all second-cohort members worked together to draw the venue’s floor plan.We held a brainstorming session where all second-cohort members and the organizing team discussed where to place elements to best showcase each project, as well as ideas for collaboration between projects.

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Brainstorming with these peers—with whom we’ve spent two months thinking together and supporting one another—was a far cry from the one-off brainstorming sessions we’d had before. This time reflected the deep understanding and trust among the members, naturally giving rise to more personal, meaningful, and profound conversations.I feel that the bonds forged through our long-term collaboration made the exchange of ideas even richer and more meaningful.

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Review and Refine Assignments

Next, following the midterm pitch and the second round of stakeholder interviews, time was set aside for each project team to share within their group what they had learned and what they had accomplished over the past two weeks. As the prototypes had evolved through multiple iterations, the discussions were more concrete than before. Furthermore, the discussions went beyond kind words; at times, candid opinions and advice were exchanged, reflecting a genuine concern for one another.

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