What If? BOSAI: The Next Disaster
21_21 DESIGN SIGHT｜2025
From July 4 to November 3, 2025, “What If? BOSAI: The Next Disaster,” a disaster-themed exhibition, was held at 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT in Akasaka, Tokyo. WOW served as overall exhibition director and presented the participatory work “What Would You Do?” The exhibition broadly reconsidered the natural disasters people have faced, starting from the fundamental question of what disasters actually are. It featured data visualizations of earthquakes and floods for realistic understanding, disaster-related products, and projects emerging from disasters. It also explored folklore traditions preserved throughout Japan and research into future possibilities, unraveling the ways of confronting disasters from the past to the present and into the future.
Exhibition Direction
01.
Visitors actively contemplated their own stance toward disaster preparedness while experiencing the works, using ten “questions” scattered throughout the venue as starting points. The exhibition presented projects related to disaster preparedness, simulations of possible disasters, designs of disaster-related products, and ancient traditions, all displayed alongside questions that explored forms of hope lying beyond the “critical moment.” Rather than conveying disaster mechanisms or technologies, the exhibition focused on people’s mindset and awareness when facing disasters.
Work: “What if? – Answers from everyone”
02.
Participants submitted their own responses to questions about disaster and preparedness via a special website, and select answers were projected as a video installation throughout the venue. Visitors could view others’ responses through the video work and even take home stickers featuring answers they resonated with. The work aimed to create a space for dialogue, where people thought for themselves while encountering diverse perspectives.
Credit
WOW Director : Hiroshi Ouchi, Saki Kato, Kyomi Shiraishi Art Director / Designer : Saki Kato Creative Strategist : Kyomi Shiraishi Web Designer / Movie Editor : Toko Taga Movie Editor : Haruka Kanno Movie Designer : Shinya Kikuchi, Yusuke Mizuno Technical Director / Programmer : Yuya Umeta Programmer : Yuki Horikawa, Seiya Takasawa, Ryonosuke Ono Sound Designer : Tomohiro Nagasaki Producer : Masahito Kodama Project Manager : Ryoma Yamashita “Research on Carrier Pigeons for Disaster Relief” Movie Director : Daisuke Takahira Recap Movie Designer : Kosuke Sugitani PROJECT TEAM Graphic Design : Taku Sasaki, Aki Kanai Space Design : TORAFU ARCHITECTS Construction : HIGURE 17-15 cas Text / Planning Associate : Mai Tsunoo Academic Support : Naoya Sekiya PARTICIPATING CREATORS veig, WOTA CORP., KDDI CORPORATION, Gehirn Inc., Shunichi Koshimura, Makiko Satake, Daihei Shibata, siro + Masaya Ishikawa, Mai Tsunoo + Yuma Koda + Taku Sasaki, Kosuke Tsumura, TORAFU ARCHITECTS + ISHINOMAKI LABORATORY, Ken Nakajima, Norio Nakamura, Nikkei Inc., JAPAN POST Co., Ltd. + Warehouse TERRADA, Nyanko Soba, Panoramatiks + Eukarya, VALUE BOOKS, Shigeru Ban Architects + Voluntary Architects' Network, Fukushima-Minpo Co., YAMAP INC., WOW, and others 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT Directors : Taku Satoh, Naoto Fukasawa Associate Director : Noriko Kawakami Program Manager : Takako Nakahora Program Officer : Moeto Yasuda Photographer : Keizo Kioku (excluding the image showing smartphone use) Videographer : Daisuke Ohki Assistant Videographer : Ryo Kamijo
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