Atsuko Ogawa
Loftwork KyotoArt Director
Atsuko Ogawa joinined Loftwork in 2020 and is the Project Manager of the Tokai Circular Economy Project, an initiative co-organized by the Chubu Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan and the Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank.Tokai Circular aims to strengthen the circular economy system in the Tokai region. Atsuko has worked in Japanese department stores, and was engaged in planning and public relations at a lifestyle goods manufacturer. Later on, she participated in the establishment of the public relations department at a general real estate company, where she provided comprehensive design and managment direction.
Judge’s selections
Future of Ecosystems Prize
Aquaterrestrial Recolonization
College For Creative Studies, Detroit, United States / University of The Bahamas, Nassau, Bahamas / AI.R Lab, United States
This is a wonderful idea that elegantly captures the issues of environmental and marine pollution together with a hopeful worldview and an artist’s vision of the future in a single ecosystem. At the same time, I think a higher level of technology and expertise is needed to connect this to solutions. Nevertheless, I wanted to single this out because human wisdom can surely converge around this project and realize this vision of the future. One more point: instead of “recolonization”, it might be better to choose a different name that suggests human coexistence with nature, not domination.
Waste-Not Circular Design Prize
GURUGURU Radish
A home-delivery circular economy that transforms the waste to resource.
Oisix ra daichi Inc.
GURUGURU Radish connects ordinary people with agricultural producers and takes a constructive approach to the so-called problem of waste. It brilliantly finds ways that a company might solve real-life problems. The entire system is well thought out and it’s absolutely wonderful to see it already implemented. I’m curious to know what processes they undertook to get this off the ground, what obstacles they faced and how they overcame them. Knowing those processes can help us to implement true circularity in other fields as well, which gives me a lot of hope and is one the main reasons why I chose this project.
Circularity Is Love Prize
Casa Gallina
Casa Gallina
I really identify with this project. It focuses on how children can live better in the future, rather than what adults should do to survive the present. From an educational perspective, it considers exchanges between people as a form of circularity and puts in place structures to facilitate these. Speaking personally, to begin from this kind of loving perspective is the most important thing, even when thinking about circularity, as any future we choose to imagine can change completely.
Future Society Design Prize
Dayra
: A supplementary economy that generates value through circulating existing resources and maintaining wealth within the community.
dayra collective project
I felt a great deal of empathy for this project which, although difficult to fully understand from the description alone, seems based on the premise of a future symbiotic society as an alternative to a capitalist system that has resulted in disparity and division. It’s a fresh perspective that connects the local economy and society by binding together communities, companies and other local interests with a system design-led approach. I’d like to hear more detail about the concept behind this.