Kotaro Iwaoka
Hidakuma CEO
Kotaro Iwaoka is the CEO of Hidakuma. In 2011, Kotaro joined the creative company Loftwork, Inc. with the idea of creating the world's first cafe equipped with digital fabrication machines, "FabCafe". In 2012, he opened the first FabCafe in Tokyo, where he worked as the Creative and Operations Director. In 2015, Kotaro contributed to the launch of Hida no Mori de Kuma ga Odoru ("Hidakuma"), a project aimed at promoting the woods and craftsmanship of Hida, Japan. In 2016 helped open FabCafe Hida and has served as the CEO of Hidakuma since 2019.
Judge’s selections
Open-Source Prize
Fair, circular solar panel
Biosphere Solar
Solar power plants in rural areas can be a blight on the landscape because they’re often unconnected to the circularity of the land. This is a wonderful project that promotes circularity by giving local people an open-sourced, decentralized and modular system to obtain just enough electricity for their own needs. Because the panels can be maintained and reused by each community, a distinctive local character is preserved.
Landscape Prize
ASO-DEKASUGI GUARDRAIL Project
Kyushu Universiry
This is a very simple but impactful project that focuses on part of our infrastructure where the potential of wood has yet to be explored. The durable, 30-year lifespan of a wooden guardrail seems reasonable enough given the age and growth period of forestry plantations in Japan, where metal guardrails also need to be maintained and replaced. I look forward to the day when continuous cedarwood guardrails become a standard feature of the landscape.
Biomaterials Prize
MYCL Composite Project
Mycotech PTE LTD
The sight of mushrooms growing on fallen trees reminds me that the death of one living thing becomes the foundation for another life to emerge. So it’s exciting to imagine how trees and mushrooms, which exist side by side in the natural cycle of life, might support each other simultaneously to form architectural structures. Instead of being in a fixed state, this architecture exists somewhere between growth and decomposition.
Urban Architecture Prize
GOOD CYCLE BUILDING 001
Asanuma Corporation Nagoya Branch Office Renovation Project
ASANUMA CORPORATION + Nori Architects
What is the rationale for urban architecture? It does seem that there are individual buildings which have sacrificed the urban environment in order to achieve an artificial comfort. This office building project not only creates a better urban space, it reveals the connection between the city and surrounding areas by bringing the processes of material production and circulation, which were previously left to rural areas, into the heart of the city.
Forage the Forest Prize
Nihon Kusaki Lab
Yamabushi llc.
Every time I enter a forest, I’m reminded that these are treasure troves of diversity, not just sites of timber production. The creative work of Nihon Kusaki Lab is helping to revive the cultural wisdom and ingenuity involved in sourcing food from local woodlands, bringing human interest and activity back to the forest.