Parsons School of Constructed Environments (SCE) collaborates with a leading expert on disaster preparedness education, Mr. Hirokazu Nagata, to conduct workshops and design intensive that will culminate in the first North America iteration of the collaboration exhibition, Earth Manual Project, which will be held at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center in Fall 2018. Earth Manual Project is an accumulation of knowledge and ideas gleaned from the experience of living through disasters. It will showcase thoughtful works by designers, artists, and architects from Japan, Southeast Asia, and U.S.

The project started in Spring 2017 with This Could Save Your Life: Creative Design & Disaster Preparedness lecture, where Mr. Nagata introduced his body of work which included preparing children through games and survival camps, and creating easy-to-use pocket survival manuals, multi-functional emergency shelters, and other imaginatively designed products.

In Fall 2017, students in Parsons SCE engaged in a week-long intensive as they developed design solutions in architecture, interior design, lighting design, and product design for surviving natural disasters. Students examined precedent case studies on natural and man-made disasters provided by the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility at the New School.

This page provides disaster preparedness resources and highlights students' works during the intensive.